“You’re staying with us aren’t you,” he says affectionately as the little one begins to lick his arm.
His wife, Marjorie, looks at the pair with a smile.
On Friday, the long-time farmers said goodbye to about 30 cows, half of their herd at Old Home Farm.
“It’s a hard thing. They’re our girls, but it gives us comfort that they’re going together to the same place,” she said.
The decision to sell part of the herd and their milk quota came after a couple looking to start their own farm, expressed interest to Smith.
“At first we weren’t sure, but they continued to keep us involved and finally we decided that we would sell them part of the herd and quota,” explained Smith.
Age also played a factor, he said.
“There comes a time when you need to get your house in order. We’ll be sad to see the cows go.”
Smith says it’s hard to explain how it feels to let them go.
“Even though the cows are out in the field, they’re still here, they’re still ours, but tomorrow, they’ll be somewhere else, someone else’s. It’s like when you lose someone you love; one minute you know they’re here and the next they’re not.”
The first generation of Gunnings settled in Traveller’s Rest in 1901, establishing a mixed farm with pigs, laying hens, potatoes and other forage and livestock.
When Smith’s father took over the farm, it slowly developed into dairy cows, and as the farming industry evolved, the farm installed their first milking machine in 1970.
“That made a huge difference. We did everything by hand. Before the machine and the milk pipeline, it was a three-step process, but with the technology it was quicker.”
When Smith took over in 1974, the farm was shifted to dairy Holsteins entirely.
“That year was a milestone for me. It was the moment where it felt like it was my farm. I had a new barn built that I could say was mine. My parents were still here on the farm too though.”
Another milestone for the farm was their first registered Holstein, Alderwood Elaine. The cow lived to be 22 years old, with the remainder of the herd stemming from her lineage.
“She was my first 4-H calf. I raised her. We had a connection. She was buried here on the farm. She was family,” said Smith.
Marjorie began working on the farm after marrying Smith in 1990.
“We had been going out for four years and I had helped out around before, but I had worked at the county office before that. When I got on the farm, it was a real learning experience.
“I always said that we’d have all red and white cows on one side and black and white ones on the other. The red ones are my favourite, but we never got that big.”
Her favourite job on the farm was caring for the calves.
“You raise them, feed them on the bottle, make sure they grow and see their life progress. They really are our family.”
Smith says he never doubted this was what he was meant to do.
“I’m very lucky that I was born here, raised, worked on the farm and do what I love. What made it even better was to find someone to spend my life with that felt the same way. She understood what it meant to work on a farm and care for the animals. Getting to share it with her has made it a perfect life.”
Marjorie concurred.
“It will be 27 years next month. It’s been a great marriage with the best husband you’d ever find.”
The pair agreed they would miss the lifestyle that comes with operating a farm.
“We’ll still have a few cows so we’ll care for them, but when we were operating, there was a whole series of people who would come to the farm every day. We’ll miss that.”
Although the Gunnings are sad to see their girls leave, they are excited for the new owners.
“It’s a great thing to see a young farmer starting something. There are only 165 dairy farms left on the Island. My only hope is the new owners have the same pleasure of and satisfaction of farming with these girls as we did. It’s been a good life.”
FIVE FAST FACTS ABOUT DAIRY FARMING ON P.E.I.:
– Dairy industry stems back to early 1800s
– Dairy products are the third largest commodities of all commodities on P.E.I.
– There are 165 dairy farms on P.E.I.
– On average there are about 80 cows per herd on P.E.I.
– Annual milk production on P.E.I. ranges from 110 million litres to 120 million litres.
