By Melissa Hart
With a growing passion, Tom DeGroot of T & L Cattle has an insatiable hunger to develop a good cow. His love for cows came at a young age and has developed into a livelihood that envelopes his farm and his high school sweetheart.
Together Tom and Laury DeGoot with a ‘great team’ make their home in the Fraser Valley near Rosedale, BC. Their farm consists of 130 acres where they milk 80 purebred cows. Additionally, they have another farm where they milk anywhere from 10-60 commercial cows.
While they’ve been known across CowNation to exhibit winners and buy and sell quality cattle, not everyone knows the backstory of T & L Cattle.
Tom grew up with five brothers on a dairy farm. His parents emigrated from Holland and his father was also a cattle dealer which provided Tom with great skills and a deep interest at a young age. His father passed away at 51 years of age and his motto was "always sell your best!"
When Tom hit the teenage years, he broke into the cow dealing business. He took his bike and hit the road riding several miles to see farmers through the countryside.
Tom and Laury first met when Tom was 18 and she was 16 and together they’ve enjoyed building a family. They have two children, Mike who works in finance and Karly who is studying to be a holistic nutritionist.
When Tom was 25 he started milking cows on his own, renting a farm and quota. Laury would stay home with the kids and milk the cows while Tom retired his bike and hit the road in his truck to buy and sell cattle. He also began dabbling in real estate, buying and selling dairy farms around Canada.
One day Tom thought he would take a cow to a local show. She came in heat the day before and jumped everyone in the ring. While she started out in last place, she ended up in third and later that summer Tom sold her and she garnered two grand champion banners at two different shows in the states for her new owners. It was then that Tom realized he liked finding cows in the raw and developing them into something worthy of the winner’s circle.
Tom enjoyed honing his cowman skills under the likes of Harry Bailey, Albert Cormier, Brian Craswell and Simon Lalande. He said they have been great mentors to work with.
While leading out the grand champion is fun, Tom gets more satisfaction from selling a great cow that goes on to win a show than keeping her for himself.
The success at shows and scouring the countryside for good cattle requires someone to keep the plates spinning at home. Laury explained, “A big asset to our farm, since Tom is away a fair bit, is having a great team. Jan Middleburg has been with us four years, Will Romeyn one year and Henry Bosch 4 1/2 years. Also our veterinary Alden Reynolds has been with us 25 years and is highly regarded in his profession.”
She concluded, “We have really enjoyed the opportunity to travel to sales and shows around the world and meet great farmers throughout the business.”
Tom and Laury’s story wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Tom’s love for hockey. Besides cattle, hockey is one of Tom’s greatest passions and he enjoyed coaching his son’s team for ten years.
Learn more about T&L Cattle when you visit their website at tandlcattle.com