Vassar producer happy to supply local market

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When Trevor and Melissa Goulet moved on to 10 acres east of Steinbach in the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie it was their dream to provide a spacious home for their horses. That was back in 2011, but that dream was dashed two years later, when the municipality refused to give them a permit to build a barn on their property for the two thoroughbred race horses they purchased in 2012.

So the Goulets packed up and moved. Their new farm was a quarter section of bush and pasture eight miles north of Vassar, where they added raising sheep to their breeding of purebred thoroughbred race horses.

But raising sheep for meat proved not to be the most lucrative of enterprises and the Goulets shifted their attention to beef. Today, meat-lovers who do their shopping at Sprague, Woodridge and Buffalo Point are serving up ground beef, roasts and steaks from purebred Simmental cattle from Goulet Farms.

WES KEATING THE CARILLON 

With ears perked forward, Trevor Goulet’s 11-year-old stallion, Hay Listen Up, lives up to his name.
WES KEATING THE CARILLON With ears perked forward, Trevor Goulet’s 11-year-old stallion, Hay Listen Up, lives up to his name.

Goulet is happy to have found a local market for his beef and operators of stores like Carl and Kay’s Fine Foods in Sprague are equally pleased to have a ready supply of quality beef for their customers, without the added cost of freight.

Reflecting back on the move to the Vassar area, Goulet says the immediate tax break was significant. The tax on property in La Broquerie was in the neighborhood of $3,000, while they paid just $600 for their first year of taxes on their 160 acres in the RM of Piney. The decision to move was great but the timing was bad.

“December of 2013 was not a good time to move. I would not recommend moving in winter to anybody. We hadn’t expected our property to sell that fast.”

Trevor and Melissa were married in October of 2011, and the 10-acre parcel of land, two miles east of Steinbach on Townline Road, was their first home.

The farm, eight miles north of Vassar, is their second home and Trevor says they plan on retiring here.

“We have spent far too many hours fencing and pounding in fence posts.”

Goulet Farms started with a 100-head flock of ewes, raising sheep for meat and selling purebred lambs as breeding stock. But Goulets says there was little money in that little experiment and are now in their fourth year of beef production.

When they switched from sheep to beef, they bought 16 purebred Simmental bred heifers from LaSalle Riverbank Farm.

Since then, the Goulet herd, in partnership with a large beef producer at Moosehorn, has expanded to 43, using only purebred Simmental bulls.

Goulet says they keep 20-25 head here, depending how the pasture is doing, and the balance of the herd is raised and bred in Moosehorn.

WES KEATING THE CARILLON 

Trevor and Melissa Goulet with Regan, 7, Taylor, 5, Easton, 3, and Kinsley, 1, on the play structure which is the children’s favorite spot on the yard at Goulet Farms.
WES KEATING THE CARILLON Trevor and Melissa Goulet with Regan, 7, Taylor, 5, Easton, 3, and Kinsley, 1, on the play structure which is the children’s favorite spot on the yard at Goulet Farms.

The Moosehorn beef producer has 800 head in a cow/calf operation. Being on poorer land he needs a lot of acreage to support that herd, Goulet explains. Here 20-22 head can be grazed on 80 to 100 acres.

“We bring 20 calves down every spring and if it is a good year for grass, we bring a few more. After all, Moosehorn is not next door, located four hours away, north of Ashern.”

It takes about 30 months to raise the animals to market weight of 1,400 pounds at Goulet Farm.

Now, the Goulets have about 20 head a year butchered for the local market. They do their own hauling, two at a time, to Banman Meats at Schanzenfeld every three weeks, depending on how busy they are at the Winkler area plant. Every four weeks, Goulet makes the trip to Banman Meats to pick up the meat that has been, cut and ground, wrapped and frozen, ready for delivery to his customers.

The Banman Brothers operate one of a few licensed beef plants in Manitoba. Goulet says they offer a complete butcher package, taking care of everything, from farm to freezer in one place.

Goulet says he finds this handy for him, as he sells his product locally to stores in Woodridge, Sprague and Buffalo Point, as well as to individual customers in his area.

Goulet uses large freezers set up with a 5000-watt gasoline generator on a trailer to ensure the meat remains frozen from the time he picks it up at Winkler until he transfers it to smaller freezers in a storage building at home.

Locally, he sells ‘a ton of ground beef’, pepperettes are big, and customers of one store he deals with really like his beef jerky. And of course, roasts and steaks are popular throughout the year.

There are also individual customers who buy stewing beef briskets, Goulet said.

PHOTO COURTESTY OF MURRAY MACHEJ 

Corinne and Murray Machej operated Carl and Kay’s Food Store at Sprague, which had been in the family for more than 50 years.
PHOTO COURTESTY OF MURRAY MACHEJ Corinne and Murray Machej operated Carl and Kay’s Food Store at Sprague, which had been in the family for more than 50 years.

One of Goulet’s best customers is Murray Machej at the store in Sprague. Carl & Kay’s Fine Foods was founded in 1974, and Murray and his wife Corinne took over the store from his parents in 1996.

Machej says for years they were buying meat from a wholesaler that has since closed and he was very happy to learn there was a producer in the area that would be willing to deliver to them.

“To small stores like ours, it is great to be able to buy local, for freight is a big cost and the savings can be passed on to the customer.”

Goulet Farm has a great product and they deliver every week, Machej says.

Machej, who would make a great spokesperson for the R.M. of Piney Chamber of Commerce, is quick to point out that “Shop local, Shop Canadian” applies to their friendly neighbors across the border to the south.

For 50 years, Americans have been stopping at the small store in Sprague on their way to or from North West Angle or other fishing and hunting spots in the area.

Everybody on their way back to Minnesota loads up on Canadian products they can’t get in the United States.

In that regard, Machej’s store has received a big boost from his neighbors across the border. In promoting the major fishing spots on the Lake of the Woods, a drive through Canada on the way to North West Angle is recommended on the Lake of the Woods Tourism website.

“The trip up will have travellers going through Sprague, Manitoba, a very small town. Some stop at the local grocery store to pick up a few items you can only get in Canada. Perhaps, a Coffee Crisp chocolate bar, a loaf of famous Canadian rye bread or some delicious Canadian jams.”

And that has not changed since the United States president has made Canada/United States relations uncomfortable. Machej says the Americans still like their fishing and hunting. At the same time, more locals, as well, are now buying locally rather than cross-border shopping.

WES KEATING THE CARILLON 

The purebred Simmental cattle at the feeding station at Goulet Farms may be turned out to pasture before the end of June, depending on the quality of the grass at the farm, eight miles north of Vassar.
WES KEATING THE CARILLON The purebred Simmental cattle at the feeding station at Goulet Farms may be turned out to pasture before the end of June, depending on the quality of the grass at the farm, eight miles north of Vassar.

And many visitors from the U.S. adopt that very Canadian characteristic of apologizing for something that is not their fault.

Machej enjoys a bit of good-natured teasing when the situation arises. The removal of United States liquor from Manitoba store shelves has given him the chance.

An American recently came into the store asking for a bottle of Kentucky bourbon. Machej told him, “We’re not the 51st state yet.”

After saying he was sorry to have asked, the American bought a bottle of Canadian rye whiskey, Machej chuckled.

On the way back, the American probably stopped in again to stock up on those Coffee Crisp bars, rye bread and maybe a few bags of ketchup or all-dressed potato chips, as well.

After all, Machej says, that is what people have been doing at the Sprague store for 50 years.

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