MacNaughton Cumming
2004
Just 20 minutes from Cornwall, over 200 Ayrshire cows owned by three brothers on three separate modern farms were milked the night of the banquet. All the brothers have sons keenly interested in dairy farming as a career.
At the foundation of all that are those brothers parents, MacNaughton and Joyce Cumming. Tonight the lifetime membership award is only in my fathers name, but like any successful family farm it is the team of both husband and wife who are responsible for that success.Behind dad there was also a legacy of two generations of Ayrshire breeders. A relative recently unearthed a 1915 photo of his grandfather, father and uncle dressed in suits and holding Ayrshire cows. Red legged Ayrshires I might add.
It was 121 years ago when my great grandfather moved with his family and livestock from St Louis de Gonzague. Even though he lives in Ontario dad has always had a Quebec milk quota , justifying it with the quote, “if you own a Cadillac, you don’t switch to a Chevrolet.”
Dad was and is a complete farmer who was on the vanguard of change. He talked about free stall cows, long before dairy leaders knew what he meant. The show ring still hasn’t figured that out.
He always expressed his opinion strongly at Ayrshire meetings. A rather nice man once asked me if dad ever went home and regretted what he had said? I asked him that, and he reflected for a moment and said, “No, but I’ve come home regretting not saying more.”
He was at a large herd conference in London a couple of weeks ago, probably the oldest person there. I’ve heard reports since that he said over a microphone, “that you can always tell an Englishman but you can’t tell him much,” and he asked an American speaker who milks 1,400 and has a John Deere dealership, “if you milk 1,400, how come you need the John Deere dealership?”