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ELGIN, N.B. – Dairy farmer Stephen Stiles walks through his empty barn after his cows were seized by Farm Credit Canada this week.

Stiles stopped making his payments in January, after his licence to sell milk was suspended, and owed them about $615,000.

But Stiles said the lender was well secured and should have given him a few months given his extenuating circumstances.

“They have security of the quota which is worth right around half a million,” he said. “And they have the cattle and they have the land of security. So they’re very well secured.”

On December 31, 2013, part of the barn roof gave way under the weight of snow and ice, but no animals were injured.

Last summer, the Stiles family put up a temporary flat roof, covering it with plastic and continued with their operation.

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Then on Dec. 8, 2014, his licence to sell milk was suspended after an inspection found the temporary roof inadequate.

“[They] requested I have a roof put on the barn,” he said. “Without an income to put a roof on a barn, it’s hard to do and in the winter time it’s almost impossible.”

Stiles said he planned to put on a new roof this summer, and showed Global News the lumber he had bought for the job, but says Farm Credit Canada wouldn’t wait.

“Even though they’re well secured, they’re unwilling to wait and decided to realize on security and take all the animals,” he said, adding he had told them he’d have the roof up by June and would be back shipping milk.

The Stiles farm has been in their family for four generations.

“The wife and I have operated this farm ever since I was 19 years of age,” Stephen’s father, Clarence said. “It has made a living for us and it raised three kids.

“The farm has sustained all this and I believe the farm can sustain farm credit.” Tweet This

This isn’t the first time the Stiles family has run into financial trouble with Farm Credit Canada, in fact the order executed this week to seize Stile’s cattle was dated June 26, 2013.

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At the time, the family sold part of their milk quota, some cows and put two parcels of land up for sale. Stiles said he was on solid footing until his licence was suspended.

Farm Credit Canada Spokesperson Trevor Sutter, said privacy legislation stops them from commenting on specific cases, but sent an e-mailed statement from the lender.

“Collection, seizing and selling assets is the last resort after many other options have been tried or explored. This is never an easy situation and is not taken lightly. However, this is a court-sanctioned process and the customer will continue to have the benefit of court oversight.”

According to Farm Credit Canada, about two per cent of farms in New Brunswick are considered financially unhealthy, which means having a loan that is more than 90 days in arrears with an expected loss.

Stephen Stiles has a job driving a truck to continue to make a living, but says he’s worried about the future.

“Without the farmers, it’s scary to think where your food comes from,” he said.

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