The Burns family tradition is not about to stop
The grounds are trim, fences are painted, and weeds are clipped. Stable doors were open when we visited, litter cleaned out, and stocks of shavings and fresh straw were ready to shake into stalls, making as comfortable as possible dairy and beef cattle which will call these barns home for at least the four days of the fair.
Out on the grounds, Neil Burns and son Matthew were busy with the whipper-snipper putting the final touch on the still new, wide entrance gate which is now at the Cookshire end of the grounds and is wide enough to accommodate at least three vehicles at a time when necessary.
Keeping up the tradition begun so long ago, the Burns family sons, Matthew and Cameron, are poised to eventually follow their dad’s footsteps as he and four generations before him had successfully carried on the family farm. “The boys will be the sixth generation to farm this land,” Neil says proudly, happy to announce both sons have completed the agriculture program at Macdonald College and both seem determined the home farm would stay in the family.
“But there’s no easy way to ease the changeover from father to sons,” Burns admits. “For now, we’re all farming together and that’s okay too,” he adds. The Burns Ayrshires have long been a tradition at local fairs with father Fred at the helm nearly 40 years ago when The Record began the traditional “fair supplements.” Neil was also a graduate of the Macdonald College program so one can assume the family tradition is firmly established.
Growing up on a dairy farm gets a youngster off to an early introduction to hard work and long hours. The daily routine — up at dawn, caring for, cleaning and milking a herd, paying close attention to the young cattle’s health and welfare, learning how to train a newborn calf to drink milk from a pail, choosing a calf with the quality and simply the look that perhaps this would be a potential winner in the showring — these were some of the first challenges the Burns boys had to learn. Joining 4-H, learning about nutrition and general care of what will become, perhaps, one of the star lactating cows in a show herd, the challenges never stop. Grooming, “gentling,” — not only teaching the calf about halters and being led, but learning themselves how to groom, clip, bathe, and present that calf in the showring — the do’s and don’ts would fill a small volume. Showing the dairy breeds is a particular business with competitors dressed in what they call “show whites,” no sneakers, but sturdy footwear, they slowly come into the showring, and for the next half-hour or so, they must walk backwards slowly, eyes constantly keeping track of the judge, keeping the calf’s head at just the right level, making sure her back is as flat and straight as possible and, if signaled to stop, placing that calf with front hooves even and one hoof slightly ahead of the other at the hind end. All those criteria will follow that calf’s appearance as long as she’s in the show line.
Keeping up with new technology and development in every aspect of farming these days also includes understanding and using herd sire management, analyzing soil, and growing as much of the necessary forage and cereals as possible on the home farm. Animal waste management is another consideration and the use of animal waste on farmland scheduled to grow hay or grains is now strictly regulated. It all adds up to a complicated process for the transfer from parents to sons or daughters. But the Burns family seems to be taking it in stride and for the present, Matthew and Cameron are doing what the family has done for so many years — working alongside Mom and Dad on the home farm and, these days, turning up at the Cookshire Fairgrounds to help get everything ship shape for the fair this weekend.
“Oh yes, we’ll be going to Ayer’s Cliff Fair too,” Neil adds. “We used to go to Sherbrooke and sometimes Brome Fair. It kind of depends on the weather and how much of the hay crop we’ve managed to get in,” he says, casting a disparaging glance at dark clouds looming on the horizon. “All the farmers are having a very difficult year. Hay crops will suffer with all the rain and if we have to buy hay, that puts production costs up,” he explains.
Neil spends a lot of time in the office during fair days, looking after the endless paperwork this type of event requires. “The boys will look after the showing mostly. When you have hundreds of entries to process, prize money, and all the costs an event like this entails, it keeps the office pretty busy,” he says. “But a county fair is such an important community event, bringing town and country together, re-uniting families and friends and hopefully, providing information to youngsters about the food they eat. It’s a perfect place to make learning about food production enjoyable and, at least in this family, a tradition we’re not about to stop.”