DAIRYING: AN APPRECIATION

I’m dismayed by the trend to demonise dairy farming ( Letters, July 8).

There was much to learn when I belatedly encountered the dairy industry at age 40.

I discovered that farmers are hard-working, dedicated, endlessly innovative and intelligent. They have to be: without those qualities they go under.

“Cows” has become a popular four-letter term of derision. We should ask ourselves how often our working day extends from 4am to 10pm. For a dairy farmer, the answer’s around 300 days a year.

I once asked an abundantly degreed advisory officer why he was wearing a tie to a meeting with a farming couple around a kitchen table covered with computer printouts. “Respect,” he said.

Doug McGilvary (Richmond, Nelson)