Farmer hangs up wellies after 67 years
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WHEN Ian McIntosh takes off his wellies on Friday night, he will be bidding farewell to a career in the fields spanning nearly 70 years.
From his early days as a young farm worker living in a bothy in Aberdeenshire, to managing farms around the Elgin area, working the land is in his blood.
“I was born on the farm, my dad was a farmer, so I was feeding cows before I could walk,” said Mr McIntosh (80), who has ended his working days at The Heath, Longmorn.
The industry has changed dramatically since his early days. Where once there were horses and ploughs in the fields, tractors now work; combine harvesters have brought reaping, threshing and winnowing into a single process; and milking machines have become commonplace.
Despite having to keep pace in ever-changing times, with new technology and with advances in farming science, Mr McIntosh said he has no regrets about his chosen career.
“Everything has changed. The harvest used to take months, not days, because there wasn’t tractors for a time. I’ve mucked in at everything, helped where I could, and there has been a lot of changes,” he said. “But aye, I’m going to miss it. I enjoyed it and I wouldn’t change it. I would do the same again.”
Born and bred at Ythanwells, near Turriff, his first working days came aged just 13, when he was allowed off school early to help in the fields.
War was raging across Europe, so Mr McIntosh, like children up and down the country, did what he could.
“That was my first real experience of farming, and I haven’t stopped since,” he said.
