FATHER’S DAY A father, a farmer and a family man Ferndale dairyman explains balancing being a single dad with a rural lifestyle By Will Houston whouston@times-standard @Will_S_Houston on Twitter As a single father of two with a 400-cow organic dairy farm to manage seven days a week, Victor Avelar has his work cut out for him, but also knows he has the support of his family to back him up. “It just brings a whole new meaning to a family sticking together, that’s for sure,” Avelar said. Inspired by their uncles, Avelar and his brother Mario started the Avelar Dairy Farm in Ferndale in 2006 and now own over 550 acres in Ferndale, Loleta and Arcata. “As little kids, we always wanted to be farmers and dairymen,” Mario Avelar said. “So we worked hard at that, and here we are. It was always our dream, and we started from scratch.” Victor and Mario Avelar’s parents moved to Arcata from the Azores Islands in Portugal, with their father working in the saw mills and schools while their mother worked as a hairdresser. Though they were told by some that they would have to inherit a dairy farm to get anywhere in the business, the Avelar brothers persisted. “Our parents came up here with suitcases, that’s all they had,” Victor Avelar said. “They ended up doing OK, so we thought, ‘Why can’t we get a dairy farm?’ If you put your mind to something, you can do anything.” With his 6-year-old daughter Alexis and 4-yearold son Layne to look after, Victor Avelar’s parents came to help him and his brother, bringing the whole family together on the farm. “It’s hard, but I thank God for my parents,” he said. “They help me out. My brother helps me out a lot with them. Most of the time, they could be out here with us. It makes it nice.” While Victor Avelar drove ahead on an ATV with his two ecstatic kids toward their ranch house, Mario Avelar trailed behind in his truck. “Our parents been a huge help for him with the kids,” he said, driving through the dust kicked up from the road by the ATV. “They’ve been with him since he was divorced. They’d come down here when he’s with the kids because it’s a lot of work having two little kids. When he was divorced, his boy was 3 months old, so that makes it tough.” Victor Avelar said he and his ex-wife divorced four years ago and now share custody of their children. “It didn’t work out,” he said. “She didn’t like the hours.” While some children would rather stay inside and play video games, Alexis and Layne Avelar are all about the farm life and love every bit of it — whether it’s helping their dad sort feed, raising chickens or riding the tractor while their uncle or dad cut the many green pastures surrounding the farm for hay. “We even have a custom: kids sit on the tractor because they’re on it so much,” Victor Avelar said. But most of all, the Avelar brothers said the two kids, along with Mario Avelar’s girlfriend’s son Jason, love chasing and catching their chickens. “These chickens out here are the nannies,” Mario Avelar said, laughing. “They’ll chase them for hours.” Alexis Avelar is raising hens “Bella” and “Chloe” for the upcoming county fair — and “Ben” the rooster, who she said she is a good defender of his hens despite his occasional “problem of puking.” Alexis said she’d rather have cows and chickens than a house cat. “They’re so much better,” she said. “I know how to work my own chickens. I train them.” Despite him being smaller than the calves, Layne showed off his skills as a future cowboy and herder, climbing from pen to pen in the barn to run with one of his favorite animals. “He has 150 toy cows,” Victor Avelar said, watching his two children run around after some hens. “That’s all he thinks about is cows when he wakes up and goes to bed.” When asked what he was thinking of doing when he grew up, Layne Avelar answered without hesitation, “I want to be a farmer.” With their own childhood experiences working on a farm, Mario Avelar said he and his brother find the rural lifestyle beneficial for their lives and their kids. “The kids are raised with good family values, and they know where their food comes from,” Mario Avelar said. While the drought has taken a toll on their production along with several farmers in the county, Victor Avelar said he is happy he is part of the organic farming community. “It’s just healthier,” he said. “After you have kids, you are glad you went organic because that’s what you want your kids to be drinking.” Like his family, Mario Avelar said it’s important to look out for one another. “If a neighbor has a problem, we’ll come over and help them,” he said. “If we have a problem, they’ll come over and help us out. That’s the way it should be.” Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 13:53:30 +0000
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