DIDSBURY -- Dwayne and Lillian Dowell are the owners and operators of Rosebud Simmentals and Dowell Charolais, a family farm located east of Didsbury near Lone Pine.
The Dowells currently have just over 60 head of cattle, including 26 Charolais and 40 Simmental, as well as a few horses, dogs, cats and a few sheep.
Dwayne grew up on a family farm east of Carstairs, where he went to school. As a youngster, Dwayne helped his parents at the farm raise Hereford cattle and dairy cows. They also farmed grain.
He started his own herd in 1971 when he purchased his first 4-H steer as a member of the East Carstairs 4-H Beef Club. Then in 1974 he purchased his first Simmental heifer and has continued to purchase and raise them.
The farm the Dowells live and work on has been in Dwayne's family for over 60 years.
"My granddad bought this in 1953," said Dwayne. "He also owned the land east of Carstairs, where I grew up. It's been in the family for almost 95 years. We still own part of a quarter of that one down there (by Carstairs)."
In addition to running the farm with his wife, Dwayne works in the oilpatch.
"I do maintenance," he said. "I run my own independent company. I have a contract with NAL Resources."
Dwayne took retail management after graduating from high school in 1978. He then worked as assistant manager at Carstairs Co-op until 1982.
"I quit that and went to the oilpatch," he said. "I've been in the oilpatch ever since."
Dwayne also tried grain farming but found it very stressful.
"I've been farming ever since I was young, like I said," he said. "I grain farmed for 10 years. You want to gamble, try grain farming. I enjoyed it, but it was stressful. If you don't have insurance and you hail out (hail damages crops) you find out. It's tough. We got hailed out two years in a row."
Dwayne met Lillian in 1982 and they were married six years later. Lillian was born in Denmark and came to Canada in 1980 as an agricultural exchange student.
"I worked on a grain farm east of Airdrie and then worked for Glenview Charolais at Carstairs until we were married," said Lillian.
The couple have four children: Cody, Megan, R. Daniel and Shane. Both Cody and Shane live at the farm and help out, while Megan lives near Edmonton and R. Daniel lives in Carstairs.
In 2007, Dwayne and Lillian moved to the farmland they currently occupy.
"There wasn't a building here when we started except for an old barn and two water wells," said Dwayne.
The farm has about 40 bulls and heifers and four herd bulls, said Lillian.
"We also grow grain, hay and green feed, which we feed the cattle," she said. "The bloodlines of our cattle come from long lines of very successful bulls, cows and come from longtime breeders from across Alberta, Canada and the United States."
"We sell bulls, cows and heifers off the farm each year as well as our steers and heifers at auction markets," said Dwayne.
They have also shown their cattle in several shows and have won a few awards.
The Dowells generally sell their calves in the fall.
"We weed out what we want to keep in the fall, they go in the pen and get fed extra," said Lillian. "The calves we can live without we sell at auction market either in Olds or Innisfail."
Dwayne said that they sell their breeding bulls in the spring.
"It runs anywhere from middle of February to June, we sell bulls off the farm," he said. "It gets a little nerve-racking. One year we didn't sell a bull until June 8. We had a commercial guy come in and he bought all of them. He took eight head of bull out of here."
"We want to thank all the bull buyers over the year for supporting us," said Lillian. "We really appreciate it."
When she is able to get some free time, Lillian assists daughter Megan with clipping cattle for cattle shows and sales around Alberta.
"We give them a haircut and made them look pretty for the cattle magazines," she said. "We have done quite a few. We can't keep up. We go all the way up north and down south."
Dwayne has been involved with the Didsbury Elks for a number of years and was the exhaulted ruler in 2017. He has stepped back a little since but is still somewhat involved. Lillian is not a member but has volunteered at a number of events.
"I'm on the park committee for Cipperley's Pond," he said. "We're trying to get people out to see what Didsbury has to offer. I joined in late 1987 and then when the kids started 4-H in 1992 I was busy with the kids. They came first. I would go to the odd Elks meeting but generally the meetings were the same night. When the last kid finished 4-H I started back."
Dwayne said he enjoys helping out in the community.
"They helped us out over the years," he said.
As for what they enjoy about farming, the pair said once it gets in your blood you don't stop.
"To me, once it's in your blood you want to keep doing it," said Lillian. "When I left Denmark I was helping with dairy farms at home. I came in 1988 to Olds College as an exchange student. That following winter I stayed with Glen and Sharon James west of Carstairs. I stayed about a year. They had Charlolais."
Lillian said she tried to leave the farm a few times but always ended up returning.
"Somebody has to feed the world," she laughs. "You can argue all you want but the cows don't get mad at you."
Dwayne said he's always enjoyed farming.
"It's a business but I don't look at it as a business," he said. "It's my sanity time. (I love) calving season, watching new baby calves on the ground; seeing new life."
