But it wasn't what Janet wanted.By KIRSTEN LEATHERDALE of the Weyburn Review
Twenty-one years ago, Janet Ledingham found herself in an unthinkable situation. Her husband Harvey had just died, and she was left alone to raise two teenagers and run a farm and cattle operation. Just 34 years old, Janet had also been diagnosed with a painful form of arthritis in her back.
"I had to make a decision about what to do," said Janet, reflecting on the past while sitting at the kitchen table of her farm house just outside of Colgate.
She was under a lot of pressure to do what made sense to everyone else - sell off her land and cattle at a time when prices were high, and live off the proceeds while trying to deal with her grief.
But it wasn't what Janet wanted.
"I'm kind of stubborn. Everybody told me I couldn't do it. Everybody expected me to sell. But I was always involved in the financial decisions. I referred to the cattle as my cattle. When any machinery had been purchased, I was there. I knew the people at the dealerships and at the auction market by their first names.
"It was like everything I had done up to the point that Harvey died was nothing. It was like everything we had done, people assumed it was just him. I don't know if I had something to prove - it could be."
Twenty-one years later, the success Janet has earned breeding purebred Charolais cattle and operating a commercial cow-calf enterprise, along with professional, civic and personal achievements, have proven the doubters wrong.
Her strength in adversity, skill and contributions to the local agriculture community were recognized recently at the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce's Farmer Appreciation night, where Janet was presented with the Golden Sheaf Award.
"What happens to you is not as important as your reaction to it," she told farmers in the audience that evening suffering the effects of the farm crisis.
She was, of course, speaking from personal experience.
Following her husband's death Janet cash rented six sections of her land and kept the rest to grow feed for the purebred charolais herd she and Harvey had started three years earlier. Her first consignment sale came just one month after Harvey died, but she did what she had to do to get through it. Janet found solace in her work, and threw herself into the business enthusiastically.
At that time Charolais - a larger, meatier breed of cattle with a white hide - were still regarded as an exotic animal, and breeders faced opposition from traditional cattle producers worried about competition.
"It was a new and exciting industry. In the Saskatchewan Charolais Association, the people I had met were forward-thinking people who had the insight to see the potential of that breed and that the time was right to take the challenge and risk. Those are the type of people I met. I call that my social life, my social outlet," said Janet.
Over the years Janet became well-respected for her knowledge and business savvy. She kept a herd of 30 cows, averaging $1,000 per calf consistently, and won numerous breeder awards, including Breeder of the Year from the Saskatchewan Charolais Association, Grand Champion Pen over all breeds of purebred charolais bulls in the commercial bull show at Agribition, and the Manitoba Fellowship Award from the Manitoba Charolais Association.
It's easy to tell raising cattle has become a passion for Janet.
"I don't like to garden, but I can sit on the fence and watch my cattle, and I find that relaxing. I guess you can tell that by the plastic flowers in my yard," she joked.
Janet became particularly attached to one bull that produced excellent calves for ten years.
"I kept him one year longer than I should've. Finally one day I put a halter on him and walked him into the yard - that's the kind of bull he was - and put him in the trailer and took him to market. I bawled all the way there and all the way home.
"After I sold him this is what I got for myself," she said, pulling out a shiny diamond ring. "I call it my Yukon Jack ring - that was the bull's name. If I hadn't had that bull I wouldn't have been so successful so fast."
But Janet also credits the support of her dad and brother Archie, who died three years ago, with her success.
"I had a lot of support from my dad who lived in Colgate and my brother Archie, whose theory was if you could think of a way to do it, you could get it done," she said.
While Archie did chores for Janet - like clearing out her snow-filled yard in the middle of the night - daughter Shannon, who is now married with two children and lives in Calgary, shared her mother's interest in raising cattle, and received recognition for her efforts in 4-H.
Her son Don, who never liked cattle much when he was younger, now helps his mother take care of her commercial cow-calf herd. Janet now has the majority of the Charolais cattle leased out.
Don lives with his daughter in another house on the same property as Janet, and operates a oilfield contracting business. The two have a working partnership, with Janet taking care of Don's books and helping him raise four-year-old Cassidy.
Janet also serves as a councillor for the RM of Lomond, and is facing another challenge with family ties in her work on the board.
"I was born just over there," said Janet, pointing out her kitchen window toward a tall house standing in the village of Colgate. "My grandfather, when the railroad came in, gave a quarter section to build the railway and the town. (The village council) has just voted to disband the village of Colgate and have it go back into the RM.
"It's my grandfather that homesteaded here. This village came out of his quarter, and now I'm the one that's going to be... not dismantling it but...," said Janet, pausing as she struggled with her emotions and the tears welled up in her eyes.
"It's the changing times. The school has closed down and the railroad is gone. It's a perfect example of what's happening to rural Saskatchewan. Now I'm put in a position where my grandfather was here to start it and I'm here to close it off," she said.
Despite the hardship Janet has faced, she has an amazingly positive outlook on life. She manages her arthritis with a strict diet and exercise, as well as taking a nutracutical medication to prevent pain. She says her vanity keeps her young, but it probably has more to do with her spirit.
"On my 50th birthday I went white water rafting, and on my 60th I'm going skydiving. I don't feel old so I'm not going to act old," she said.
Janet has no plans for retirement in the near future - in fact, she's toying with the idea of branching out into a new industry.
"I think the future of agriculture is in nutracuticals (nutrient supplements with scientifically-proven benefits). You know, 'farmers growing pharmaceuticals.' That's one industry that will be really moving.
"I like to do different things. Part of the challenge is learning and figuring out. Once you do that it gets boring and you have to do something else," said Janet with a smile.
Above photo: Janet Ledingham gets some help feeding her cattle from granddaughter Cassidy at her farm near Colgate. Photo by Kirsten Leatherdale.
Box 400, 904 East Avenue
Weyburn, SK
S4H 2K4
Phone: (306) 842-7487
Fax: (306) 842-0282
E-mail: weyburn.review@sk.sympatico.ca
This web page and its contents are copyright of the Weyburn
Review (1987) Ltd.
