Gabrielle Bernstein spoke the words; “Allow your passion to become your purpose, and it will one day become your profession.” For those of us who are involved in agriculture, we know this is to be true. Henk Schuurmans of Milky Wave Inc. out of Elmira, ON is an example of exactly how to take a passion and turn it into a purpose.
Henk along with his wife Bettina began their Canadian Milk Tour, on June 22,2018 on their John Deere 6430 tractor along with “Maple” a full-sized plastic cow that was strapped to the back. They began their trip out west, relying on the hospitality of dairy producers along their route. Unfortunately, they never made it to their destination as they were struck with tragedy. On July 9th, their tractor collided with a semi-truck just outside of Saskatoon, SK. Bettina passed away at the scene of the accident, while Henk sustained serious injuries.
Now in honour of Bettina, Henk has continued their journey across the country to promote the dairy supply management system in Canada. Henk started out his journey, along with various family members by heading West once again, to visit the farms that supported them before and to reach what would have been his and Bettina’s destination before heading back to Ontario.
His mode of transportation this time is in a pick-up truck, with “Maple” strapped in the box. A new member has also joined the #CDNMilkTour. “Minnie,” can be seen on their Facebook page helping capture some of the beautiful scenery Canada has to offer.
With the U.S. still calling on Canada to dismantle the supply management system, Henk plans to continue raising awareness in the dairy industry.
“I have three sons and I want to make sure they have a future in dairy farming.”
Read Cowmo’s original coverage on the Canadian Milk Tour.
Photo supplied by Milky Wave Inc.