David Carson will say “sold” one last time on May 21.
After 60 years in business, Carson Farms and Auction Services is changing hands, with its 125-head Holstein dairy herd going under the gavel May 14 at 11:30 a.m. and 220 remaining open and bred heifers on May 21 at 11 a.m.
“On May the 22nd, I will not own a cattle beast after we have our sales,” Carson said with quiet certainty. “All the cattle we got are going through the ring, and there’ll be absolutely no buybacks or no no sales. Everything will go, whether it’s $5 or $50,000, it’ll all go.”
He said at nearly 79, it’s time to slow down and enjoy life a bit.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m going to enjoy myself. I’ll tell you that,” Carson said. “With the horse farm, I could still have a horse sale, but I think we’re just ready to quit.”
Robert Van Nes of Evergreen Holsteins purchased the 143-acre facility boasting 129 tiled and workable acres, 110,000 square feet of buildings including a 130 free-stall dairy barn with 114 kilograms of quota, large calf, dry cow and heifer barns, plenty of feed storage, a 5,000 square foot commercial egg grading facility, a 20,000 square foot auction facility and office, a rooftop solar lease and an updated home with an inground pool.
“I have no idea what he’ll do or what he won’t do, but they run a really nice place where they are and keep things really nice,” said Carson. “I’m looking forward to them keeping the place.”
Van Nes said he’d looked at the listing when it first came on the market, but interest rates were too high. Once they’d dropped, the location and the property were too good to resist.
“I love it. We do a lot of stuff in Listowel, and it’s just right there,” he said. “Dairy farms in general are not available, and then to have this one sit on the market that long is really a rare case.”
Van Nes, who milks approximately 1000 cows daily, plans to shift Carson’s quota to their Ethel-area operation on June 1 for a year while the barns undergo renovations and expansion plans are formalized.
“I’ve never been happier,” Van Nes said. “I’ve got six kids. The second and third have shown a lot of interest in farming the last two years. It (Carson’s farm) gives them a different perspective of farming to be part of an operation like that. But it’s definitely not an auctioneer site for me.”
Van Nes joked that he would consider the idea of someone running auctions there if the rent were between $10,000 and $15,000. He sells his animals privately, prefers a quiet farm, and expressed concern about the biosecurity hazard of unknown trailers and animals moving in and out of the facility.
Carson stated that a lot of planning and organization is required to operate an auction facility and maintain buyer loyalty. The market has contracted due to sexed semen, beef-on-dairy products, and health and welfare technology advancements, such as robotic milkers and improved cow longevity, resulting in fewer Holstein heifers sold.
“I went to his first sale too (at the new facility) when he had a sale, and I still remember buying cows out of the old sale (barn),” said Van Nes.
Carson is confident that existing auction houses will pick up the slack without any issue, and the 37,000 bidders registered on the computer will follow.
“I always enjoyed working with people and, from my experiences, trying to give them the best way to market their stuff, or what to do or when to do it,” he said. “I was very fortunate with the times and with the people and everything.”
Carson had a reputation for representing animals honestly and to the best of his ability, garnering favour from livestock buyers and sellers over the years.
Carson said his employees made the business thrive, adding that many have been on the payroll for between 40 and 50 years.
“I’ve had some staff that’s retired due to their old age or are ready to retire that had done me an awful, awful good job,” he said. “I don’t think I ever fired anybody. The long-time employees I have are dedicated right to the wishbone, and they’re very, very hard workers.”
On April 15, 2025, Carson marked 60 years on the farm he purchased for $25,000 through his father as a 19-year-old.
“I wasn’t old enough to have it in my own name at that time,” he said, adding it was only 100 acres then. “There was an older frame house. There was a decent barn, probably 40 feet by 60 feet. It had 16 cow stalls, three horse stalls and four pig pens.”
He’ll continue to employ his core workers for another year. Carson and his wife Margo can remain in the house until November 2026, but are already looking for their future home.
The Carsons plan to host an open house on June 13 for staff and loyal customers to express their gratitude and bid farewell before embarking on retirement with a cruise to Greece. Carson hopes to tour the western United States, attend horse shows, enjoy his Clydesdale herd, and farm their remaining 350 acres.
Source: Farmtario / Diana Martin
