By ELIZABETH PARKER
News Leader Staff Writer
Wildwood Acres in Carroll County, owned by Dan and Carol Toussant, is home to a well cared for and beautiful herd of Gelbvieh, a German breed of beef cattle.
In the early 1990s Dan, who grew up on a Stark County dairy farm, went to a beef expo in search of a beef breed to concentrate on, and was introduced to the Gelbvieh breed.
"The Gelbvieh are a beef breed know for more good meat and less fat," he explained. "Gelbvieh means yellow cow in German, but the breed is actually a medium red color and can be purebred in several different colors such as black, gray and cream."
The Gelbvieh breed was recognized as far back as 1850 and the cows were popular as slaughter and draft animals. The breed was first introduced to the United States by artificial insemination in the 1970s. Today there are 70,000 registered Gelbvieh in the United States.
Currently Dan has been working on breeding the black color into his herd, because black cattle are what are selling in the current beef market. Toussant sells some feeder cattle for beef, but concentrates mostly on breeding stock to sell to other Gelbvieh herds; therefore, producing well-bred Gelbviehs is important to the success of his operation. He has also sold some calves that will be shown at the Trumbull County Fair.
Dan is a member of the American Gelbvieh Association, the Ohio Gelbvieh Association and the West Virginia Gelbvieh Association, and his herd is 99 percent purebred Gelbvieh.
"Gelbviehs are known for their early maturity, good fertility and mothering abilities," he said. "The Gelbvieh is so fertile I have to be very careful about calving age in the herd. They produce a lot of milk and tend to have long thin calves, so even large calves are easy births."
The calves are born large and sturdy and are weaned at 600 to 650 pounds. When selling breeding stock, birth weight and weaning weights are both important traits.
"I have used artificial insemination in the past for breeding," Dan said, "but now I am so busy that I purchase a bull each year from other breeders."
Dan has purchased bulls from throughout the United States, and is currently using a gentle giant of a bull that has made the rounds on the show circuit.
The plan is to work the herd toward all spring birthing, because it is easier to sell spring calves into the market.
The herd is a forage herd, meaning the cows are fed hay in the winter and are on pasture in the summer. Dan is able to make all the hay--three to four cuts a year--needed for feeding the herd, on 50 acres of his 100-acre farm. He is often able to sell some hay toward the end of the seaon. Twenty acres of the farm are dedicated to full-time pasture, and in the winter the herd of 25 cattle is fed three round bales every other day.
"I don't feed or raise any corn," explained Dan. "By working with only hay I am able to do more with less property and equipment."
Toussant purchased his farm in 1988 and has been working hard on updates to the barn since that time. He has added concrete, new feeders and new pens to improve his ability to use the large historic barn. He plans to continue the updates to meet the needs of his herd. Dan is satisified with his current herd size and has no plans to expand.
Dan, who is the definition of the hardworking farmer found throughout the area, also works at Colfor in Minerva and runs a tree-trimming service,
He is the owner of Logsdon Tree Service, which he operates throughout the spring, summer and fall.
"We provide tree trimming, removal and hedge trimming," Dan explained. "We are happy to provide free estimates and we will be ready to work once the weather breaks."
Anyone intersted in learning more about the Logsdon Tree Service can contact Dan at 330-868-4557.
Dan and Carol have completely rehabilitated the farmhouse on the property, which was built in 1885.
"Our first four years here were spent working on the house," explained Dan. "We have 13 rooms and two and a half baths in this house."
The Toussants' work has brought the stately house back to its orginal beauty of high ceilings and dark woodwork.
"I was going to auctions looking for a farm to purchase when I happened on this farm," Dan said. "The house needed completely redone, but once I saw the spiral staircase I knew this was the house and farm I wanted."
"I was working on my master's degree at the time he purchased this house and I couldn't believe what he had done," said Carol. "I brought some of my friends back to see the house and they were sure that I was joking about having purchased this house."
The Toussants have three grown children who help on the farm when they are able to get away from their college studies. Their son, Chad, is currently preparing to enter a master's program in water conservation, daughter Lindsey is working on a speech therapy degree at the Univsersity of Toledo, and their youngest, Erica, is at Ohio University and with plans to possibly study engineering.
As for the origin of the farm name, Wildwood Acres, Dan and Carol can easily explain.
"When we first moved to this farm we were amazed at the deer, wild turkey, fox, bats, black snakes and turtles of all kinds we found in the area," said Dan. "While working on the house we even found a flying squirrel."
"We love all the wild animals in this area," explained Carol. "So our farm became Wildwood Acres for all the wild animals."
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