Heath MacLennan helps his son milk cows daily
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
At 90-years-old, nobody would question Port Hill, P.E.I. dairy farmer Heath MacLennan if he decided to take a break from milking cows.
But when you ask him why he continues to milk about 30 Holsteins a day, it all comes down to one simple theme: love.
“I love to farm and be around the animals,” he told Farms.com today.
Heath has been a dairy farmer for about 76 years. He can recall a time when some of the most sophisticated technology on the farm was his hands.
“We used to milk (the cows) out in the field one (at a) time,” he told CBC News yesterday. “It wasn’t a very excellent job when it was raining. The water was running off the cows.
“I wouldn’t want to touch them when they’re not used to it now. They might kick the head off you.”
Hilton MacLennan, Heath’s son, now runs the family farm. And each day, when his dad comes to help milk, it’s a time to remember the root word in “family farm” is “family.”
“Nowadays, families hardly see each other, with the world the way it is now and social media and everything,” Hilton told CBC. “But we see each other every day. (When) the two of us get going here, sometimes we go pretty wicked.”
Heath also inspires the younger generation of dairy farmers.
Heath’s grandson, Adam, is impressed by his grandfather’s passion for agriculture.
“You don’t see too many 90-year-olds out milking cows,” he told CBC News. “If I was 90 … I’m down in Florida somewhere golfing.”
And Adam knows who the real leader is, even though his father runs the dairy farm.
“(Heath) will tell you to put your phone down, but I guess that’s what any boss does.”
Top photo: Heath MacLennan/Pat Martel/CBC