HE TRADED MILK COWS FOR SAWMILL AND LOVES IT

Five-years ago, Bruce county dairy farmer Dow
Phillips faced a decision many 40-head milkers face
today: Continue in the business or not? He chose
the latter, and today runs a thriving on-farm
lumber business.
Why go from milking cows to cutting logs? "I love
lumber," the 59-year-old farmer replies simply.
Coupled with a small cow-feeding sideline, the
lumber business has helped the Phillipses maintain
a decent farm income, and see more of their five
children and 14 grandchildren.
Phillips, who milked cows for 15 years at
Allenford, 15 miles west of Owen Sound, produces
200,000 to 250,000 board feet of lumber a year with
a Wood-Mizer band-sawmill. Since 1990, he has cut
over one million board feet of lumber.
Any regrets? "Dairying becomes such a part of one's
life, you can't help but miss the cows," he says,
"but the business we've built now, it's been
rewarding." As well as the lumber business,
Phillips and his wife Marilyn custom feed 57 cows
for a neighbouring cattleman.
Key to success has been the Wood-Mizer portable
band sawmill Phillips bought in May, 1990, for
$21,000, including attachments. He began by
producing lumber - mainly pine, hemlock, and spruce
- for customers within a 100-mile radius of the
farm. In the first 12 months, he produced 100,000
board feet of timber.
Today, he does little custom cutting. While the
sawmill is portable, it remains on the Phillips
farm, where lumber is produced for a largely farm
clientele.
Phillips estimates he recouped his initial
investment in three years.
 "It proved to be more pleasant work than milking,"
says Phillips.
Two years ago, he took a one-week course,
authorizing him to grade lumber for structural use.
Last March, he began cutting standing pine and
larch.
The Wood-Mizer is hydraulically-powered. Phillips
works with a hired man, and hires part-time help
for skidding. The mill consumes 2.5 gallons of
gasoline a day to produce 1,200 to 1,500 board
feet, depending on log quality and order.
There are some incidental costs from maintenance
and spare parts, he says. The mill uses 30 blades a
year, worth $750 at $25 each. Each blade lasts 30
hours.
"I always had it in the back of my mind," says the
retired dairy farmer about his new-found business.
"I always liked producing lumber.
"When I got into it, I don't think I realized what
it would become."  

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