Lakeland College alumni Jake Vermeer

"There have been side effects in all forms, but we've done our best to make sure our team feels supported through this stressful time."

Meet Jake Vermeer, a Lakeland College alumnus, who is sharing his experience during COVID-19.

Program: Class of 2015, animal science technology
Job: Owner and operator of Vermeer's Dairy Ltd.

Q: How did COVID-19 change the way you do your job?
A: We've been trying to manage the risk of exposure and risk of being quarantined. I'm not overly worried about getting sick. I'm more concerned about getting quarantined. That's more of a danger to our operation from an animal welfare point of view. We've seen a significant decrease in production demand, so we've had to cut back on milk production. As a farm, that's kind of always geared to producing more and more every single year, you see a year now where we have to slow down our production. The consumer for that demand is not there.

Q: How have you overcome challenges to continue to help others during this time?
A: One of my main focuses is my team. They've been feeling the side effects of this situation, from cancelling travelling plans to supplementing the missing manpower from international summer students.One of my guys was in the Philippines at the time of the outbreak. He had a hard time getting back, and when he did, he had to quarantine, which took him out of the work cycle longer. Then I had another guy that was supposed to go back to the Philippines for four weeks, and he ended up not going. We still paid out his vacation time because he cancelled before airlines were offering reimbursement. Then I had a herdsman leave for Germany in July and he had to extend his trip because he couldn't return. There have been side effects in all forms, but we've done our best to make sure our team feels supported through this stressful time.

Q: What would you like to say to those who work on the front line?
A: We thank all the frontline workers for standing in danger's way and putting their communities first. We hope that the province continues to follow the guidelines from Alberta Health Services, because I think it's more important now than ever. It is harder to follow some of the rules for sure, but it does benefit the entire province to gets the numbers down.

Learn about the experiences of other alumni: