About Us
Windy Willows Farms is operated by Collin and Michelle with the help of one part time employee. Our young daughter, Hillary, has already shown an interest in cattle and helping out on the farm. She has enjoyed considerable success showing Angus calves at both local and regional 4H shows.
Windy Willows Farms currently consists of 3680 acres, of which about half is dedicated to pasture for our 250 black and 50 red registered Angus cows. The balance is used to produce feed for our cattle and to produce some cash crops such as peas, mustard, forage oats and forage barley seed.
The holdings consist of our headquarters and most of our cultivated land, located 6 miles north of Hodgeville, and our ranch, the Calderbank unit, located approximately 10 miles north of Ernfold.
We are the third generation on our home place, a farm which for many years was dedicated to the production of wheat and other cereals under the management of Collin’s father and grandfather. While we no longer grow wheat, it is fair to say that wheat helped to build the present cowherd. All the cattle are calved at our headquarters and they remain there until after our AI season is complete in early June.
The Calderbankranch was purchased in 1988 in order to facilitate the expansion of the registered cowherd, which was, and is, our primary enterprise, and source of income. The ranch is located in the beautiful Vermilion Hills and includes the townsite of the now abandoned town of Calderbank. Situated on the Canadian National rail line between Moose Jaw and Main Centre, Calderbank once had 2 elevators, 2 general stores, town hall, 2 poolrooms, a CN water tower, a stockyard and several residences. All that remains today is the CN railbed, a CN well site, old foundations and the leveled site of the outdoor rink. The spring originating at the foot of the old CN well provides water for our cowherd even after freeze up.
countless sloughs of varying sizes which trap the snow melt – when there is snow that is! The 7 quarters of healthy native prairie are supplemented by tame grasses and cultivated land used to produce feed for late fall and winter, much of which is grazed in the swath. Water is provided by sloughs, dugouts and at least 2 springs, including the CN well spring which generally runs all winter.