Perhaps you know me personally, or perhaps reading this article is the only introduction that we’ve ever had. To bring you up to speed, I am a third generation dairy farmer. I am not a lobbyist nor a politician. I buy my groceries at the store like everyone else because yes, I am a consumer too. My family has a small dairy farm in Southern Ontario. I am proud of our farm and it is a privilege to be able to work with dairy cattle.
I started a public Facebook blog early in 2015 to help educate the public, counteract misinformation, and to share my own personal story about dairy farming. I recently branched out by using Twitter to help reach even more people. Overall my efforts have been extremely rewarding; I’ve had great feedback from farmers and non-farmers all over the world. However, I’ve also had some feedback that I never expected.
I am very proud of the high standards of animal welfare that we practice on our farm and it is often the core of my posts and tweets. You’d wonder how something so positive could be twisted into something so negative. Yet some extreme animal rights activists have taken it upon themselves to reshare my posts, altering the context to serve their own agendas, all the while hiding conveniently behind false identities. Initially I kept screenshots of these hijackings with the intention of using them in my blog. However I was given the advice not to repost their tweets as it only gives these cowards the attention they crave. So, as a compromise and to give context to this blog, rather than publish the screenshots, I will simply provide quotes.
Here is my original posting of a nice letter that was left in our mailbox by an anonymous person. I am so proud of that little note. I keep it displayed to remind me that what I do is noticed and appreciated by others.
When I sent out this tweet I was happy with all the positive vibes that resonated through the Twitter community. However, I must say that I was shocked to see how an extremist twisted my tweet into something to snuff out my enthusiasm and further their own cause: “It’s not about animal welfare, that person who wrote the note should watch when they r mutilated & killed.”
Next, there is this photo that I shared to show how we walk our calves between our two farms to allow them to enjoy an extended length of time on pasture. They truly have an amazing life here and I was trying to share with the general public our dedication to providing our animals as nice a lifestyle as possible.
I couldn’t imagine how an extremist could turn such a wonderful moment into something so evil: “Poor innocent non-human slaves, born into exploitation and when no longer profitable, sent to slaughter.”
There are many other examples that I could share with you, but it only saddens me to go further. I almost feel like I am stooping to their low standards by writing this blog in the first place.
This experience was a real eye opener for me. I feel violated. I have friends and family that are vegan or vegetarian. I respect them and love them even though we have differing opinions. To be honest, you can learn a lot by putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and by trying to understand their viewpoints. I am all for open discussion and dialogue, but only if it’s polite and backed with educated facts. Feel free to express your personal views, but please educate yourself first and don’t attack me to try to gain a following.
There is no reasoning with extremists of any type so it’s not worth my time to engage with them. If nothing else, my experience has actually encouraged me to be more aggressive posting positive things about agriculture. I encourage farmers across the world to stand together and do the same. My grandmother always told me to do unto other people as you would have them to do unto you. The world would be a better place if more people followed that advice.
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Keep up the good, positive work Tim. One of the most welfare friendly dairy farms in Canada! Ignore the haters.
So glad to hear that this won’t discourage your future positive posts- the truth is that the naysayers and trolls get the most aggressive when you are being EFFECTIVE showcasing what agriculture is really like. They only strike when they’re threatened, so, even though it can hurt, know that it’s just a sign you’re doing a great job as an agvocate!
You do am amazing job taking care of the animals! People don’t understand what it’s really like when farmers care. I help out a friend on her dairy farm and just last night she had to put a 2 month old calf down. He couldn’t stand or walk on his own and was getting worse with time. She had spent so much time with him that she couldn’t shoot him, so instead gave him a shot. Stayed by his side until the end. If that isn’t a caring person I don’t know what is. Someone will say how wrong it was to kill him but now he can run and walk wherever he is.
You are doing a great job, Farmer Tim!!!! It is obvious you love your cattle. The haters will only make you stronger! Keep doing what you are doing! 🙂
Cutest baby cows! Seriously though – I know it’s hard to not let the ignorant haters comment get under your skin, words hurt! But at least you know within your self and those who matter know – that you’re doing good work and love your animals and treat them well. The baby cows are too friggin cute though.
Our family loves your updates and teachings about your farm and the cattle you raise. We have three young children who are very curious and love to see what’s happening regularly on farmer Tims farm.
Keep up the hard work!
Well said Tim, you know in your heart you are doing a great job and your cows are treated like royalty. Keep your chin up and keep smiling. The whole world will wonder what you have been up too!!!PS your baby cows are cuties!!
It is sad to see what anonymity will allow a person to say. One asks oneself if they would say something to your face? Probably not. Keep up the good (and positive work) We need to continue to make sure Canadians know where their food comes from.
Carry on sir, the day one of those extremists has the guts to step out from behind their cloud of anonity and like you said carry on a conversation of facts not feelings I will listen to them.
You can’t reason with animal rights extremists – it’s like trying to debate with 9/11 truthers. You just have to block them and save your energy for the folks in the “movable middle”, the ones who benefit from modern agriculture but just need to learn more about it. Once they do, they generally become more supportive. As the note said, just keep doing what you’re doing! 🙂
Try to remember it isn’t personal – they don’t know you or your life. They have an agenda and will use whatever means they can to try and sway people to their way of thinking. I know it is easy to say and hard to do – but in the end it isn’t ever about you. Hang in there and stay positive!
There are a lot of nasty people in this world that will spin anything written or posted to fulfill their nasty agendas. Keep up the good work and please keep posting. The delete button is an easy push! 🙂
I’m truly sorry to hear this. You’ve handled it graciously and well. I love hearing about how well you care for your animals. I often think that the folks who wrote such cruel things to you forget that all animals will die. If they are not butchered humanely after a good, safe, and healthy life, they will die by sickness, old age, or the ravages of wildlife. Keep loving your animals and sharing your life with us. 🙂
Indeed, they are very creative and do whatever they want to do to justify their cause. Most of the times, I found they are shameless! We have the same kind of experiences and are very disappointed and discouraged. However, ignore the noise! In the end, they have no ground to stand on!
Haters will be haters, not fact finders. Couldn’t agree with you more. I really enjoy your posts and love hearing about small farmers out there. It’s not an easy life, but such an essential part that most of us going to the grocery store don’t get to witness 1st hand. I heard about your blog through my sister inlaw (who is seriously the greatest animal lover I know). We live In longhorn country. I had the pleasure of sitting in a 3 day conference for TX State college course offering guidelines with farmers who share your love and commitment to farming. Great peeps. Much respect. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Feel good about what you are doing and keep sharing. Simple minds like these extremists cannot think for themselves. I too have a small farm and had a neighbour accuse us of abusing our jack because he brayed!
Keep up the positive. It’s tough to deal with the negatives because they can be so personal. You are great example to all that are sharing what they do to the benefit of almost everyone.
Keep up the good work Tim! I’m an animal lover, but also eat meat. My vegetarian friends on instagram also “like” my photographs of a meal containing meat. That surprised me at first, but they are open minded i guess. Just wanted to share that with you. Best wishes from The Netherlands.
Unfortunately, it’s part of the drill for anyone with an online presence. My favorite morning radio disc jockeys talked today about how they’ve come to hate people based on comments they leave on social media. Even a fun morning DJ is not immune to trolls. Don’t let them get you down.
Great article. I have chosen a vegan lifestyle just recently in an attempt to get my health back to what it should be, but I have NOTHING against beef or dairy farmers (I grew up on a cattle farm myself). I think WHATEVER one chooses to blog about, there are going to be haters out there. People will say things in cyberspace that they would never think of saying to one’s face . . . it’s really very sad . . .
As difficult as it is to hear … there will always be the misinformed, vocal, minorities, who are quick to stir the pot, but no so quick to admit that they themselves, enjoy meat, milk and leather products. The reality is, there is a hierarchy on this planet, and if individuals are not cut out to participate, they should not. However, just like any situation, individuals will voice their opinions. Intelligent individuals do their homework. Keep your head up and be proud of the contribution you make!
I’m a vegetarian which is my personal choice. My issue has always been the treatment of livestock, not the choice to eat them. Nothing should have to suffer their entire lives to benefit me. Hearing of farms like yours makes me smile 🙂
Thanks Wendy. I encourage you to get out and see some farms and talk to the farmers. There will always be an odd bad farmer out there, but there are bad eggs in every industry. The dairy industry in Canada is pretty heavy regulated for animal welfare and milk quality so I would put your worry about suffering at ease. Dairy farmers go out of their way and spend piles of money to make their cows as happy and comfortable as possible. It only makes sense because happy cows are profitable cows. Don’t fall for the misinformation you find on the Internet. Ask a farmer 😉 That reminds me. Here’s a good page to follow if you have questions about agriculture in general. https://www.facebook.com/AskTheFarmers Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks again
I used to be one of those extreme animal activists years ago. I had severe anxiety and depression, as well as an eating disorder. I used my “love” for animals as a cover up. What you have to remember with the extremists is that you are not dealing with mentally stable people. They lack common sense and basic logic. Almost like trying to talk sense into a toddler having a temper tantrum in the middle of the diaper isle at Walmart.
I am happy I am well now and no long share the views of those people. I eat meat and consume dairy in a healthy way and support local farming. A total 180 from my former self 🙂
Wow Brita. Thanks for sharing your story. I’m so glad that you are feeling better and that your life is back in order. I have no issues with anyone who decides to be a vegan or a vegetarian. It’s the extremist attacks that I’m not happy with. You should really write a story about your experience and let your voice be heard. In fact, I’d love you share your story,or even quote some of this message with your permission of course 🙂
Brita’s story is an example of how farmers can eat the animals they grow. They know they have been well-treated. My issue is with people who only eat the best cuts of meat. I was brought up to eat as much of the animal as possible so nothing would go to waste. I draw the line at headcheese and kidney though.
Great article on wordpress.com Sorry to hear about the negative comments, that you received on Twitter. I posted once on #farm365 a picture of my calf and it was reposted by a animal activist. Very negative. I am now hesitant to show anything about our cattle on that hashtag. Great stories Farmer Tim. @collcat123 on Twitter.
tim..i am an animal advocate and have a small barn yard sanctuary..pigs, cows, sheep, turkeys..if it lives on a farm, we have it…all of them destined for slaughter. i am a huge enemy of commercial or factory farms…too many animals to be cared for with respect and kindness for their entire lives birth to death. however, i fully support family farms who value and care for their animals and ensure they are well and appropriately cared for during their lives. i really liked two things about your blog…youe cows actually get to go out on pasture and graze which cows were built to do and the fact that a passer by saw your cows were happy…you are right to be proud of that. there are extremists in every venture and extremist are not much different than fanatical religous groups..they are one trick wonders who are only capable of thinking in black or white and are very vocal in their views. each and everyone of us decides the standards of humanity we wish to live by but the reasonable and intelligent accepts that if he wants the right to live and believe what those standards are…so does the rest of the world. no one anywhere can go wrong in being kind…so glad your cows have a kind human.
I feel for you. Since they have made you a target, maybe you could imbed your caption right in the picture? It would make it harder to share maliciously without a lot more work. Just a thought. Good luck.
Great idea! Thanks 🙂
Yes, there is a dark side to it but on the positive side, there’s lots of good within social media too. e.g. Farmers are using the curated accounts to educate and connect with consumers and they are proving to be hugely popular. I’m an organiser for the @IrelandsFarmers one and yes, while it does get some attacks occasionally, the feedback is almost always 99% positive. Keep up the good work 🙂
Your farm appears very clean & , yes, those heifers look cute. The extremist comments appear to be a vegan source, unfortunately, too many vegan supporters become obsessively ruthless in pushing their beliefs. I know a vegan lifestyle & for me, it was unhealthy. Your blog journal is interesting.
Tim I love your site. And do keep up the good work, this is needed So many people in Canada have never been around animals enough to understand then. My friend an animal lover who grew up in Toronto had an interview for vet college in Guelph, one of the questions she was asked was “how can you tell if a cow is happy?” she made the mistake of laughing … but I grew up around a dairy herd and I knew what they meant although I couldn’t tell you how – you just know and from the pictures I have seen of your cows … they are happy
Thanks Kathy. I really appreciate your comments. I know that my cows are happy because of my low vet bills and full tank of milk! I think that they also wink at me every once in a while 😉
Keep doing what you’re doing… and copyright AND watermark the images you post… that may help a little if you can at least get ‘stolen’ images removed
Hey Tim keep up the good work.
Also to add, for those that share their farm on social media. Don’t forget to include pictures of the people weather it is employees or family in your posts. I have found those are the posts that get the positive attention and reach we need. We cannot forget the human side of agriculture.