{"id":169,"date":"2015-11-17T16:00:50","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/closeup\/?p=169"},"modified":"2015-11-20T00:14:52","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T00:14:52","slug":"169","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/closeup\/2015\/11\/17\/169\/","title":{"rendered":"TPP through the eyes of a dairy farmer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u00a9<\/a>

\u00a9 Sabrina Nemis<\/p><\/div>\n

Gardell Hobbs was 13 when his father died of a heart attack, leaving a dairy farm that couldn\u2019t be run by anyone in his family.<\/p>\n

Instead, they changed their farming business from dairy to beef.<\/p>\n

But just over a decade ago, a 45-year old Hobbs bought 15 dairy cows for his Dellaway farm in Quyon, Que. to extend the family business into a fourth generation. He now owns and milks 33 cows.<\/p>\n

The grounds surrounding his barns are a thick mix of mud, cow dung, puddles of water and ice.<\/p>\n

The sound of unexpected droppings of urine and feces interrupt the ramblings\u00a0from a radio. These stick to the cows’ fur, drying up in no time. The barn is overwhelmed by the smell of the mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe farm means everything to me,\u201d says Hobbs, whose face has a tan absent from his exposed arm. He wears a baseball hat that reveals wisps of greying hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my living, it\u2019s what I know, it\u2019s what I do, it\u2019s my roots, it\u2019s everything. I can\u2019t see myself doing anything else,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n