Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
I grew up on a dairy farm in the Annapolis Valley so agriculture and the farming work ethic has always been a part of me. I always knew I would be involved with some aspect of agriculture. I graduated with an agriculture degree in animal science. The ranch started in 2004.
We are a part of an agricultural community. Unfortunately, like places across Canada, agriculture has suffered. We used to have 33 dairy farms in the county. Now we are down to just three. But of those farmers that are left, we work as a community.
I have a number of beef farmers in the area who are taking my mink manure and applying it on their fields as fertilizer to raise hay for their animals. When we can work together and help each other it becomes a nice symbiotic relationship.
I love my job. Even the most mundane or simplistic task or even on the most frustrating day, you can still go home at the end of the day and know you have accomplished something. There is something satisfying, it is hard to explain, about getting up in the morning and providing care for another being; whether it is humans or animals.
As human beings we have a responsibility to look after both humans and animals properly.