New Brunswick dairy farmer Mike Mullin says having to wake up an hour earlier to milk his herd this weekend leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
The man from Steeves Mountain, N.B. says he would like to abolish daylight saving time all together.
“I think there is no benefit to it the way it is and I would not have that change twice a year,” said Mullin.
He says he will have no choice but to milk his cows an hour earlier in order to be ready for the morning milk truck, which means he will actually lose money this weekend.
“We get a little less milk. That is what is going to happen. We are going to lose an hour out of our 24-hour product for the cows here for sure,” said Mullin.
He says that only equates to about a liter of milk per cow from his herd of just over 100, so the total loss is only about $100.
The worst part of the time change, however, is that the cows get cranky and he has to actually wake them up before he can milk them.
“It’s a big wake-up call for the cows,” he said.
Canada first took part in daylight saving time back in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Ont. Back then, it was a means of saving on coal and on energy costs.
People who support daylight saving time today make the same argument. The longer daylight hours contribute to energy saving, but as far as Mullin is concerned, New Brunswickers have been milking that trend long enough.
Watch and clock repairman Kevin Powers, who runs a repair shop in Moncton, has his own opinions.
Powers says running around changing the time on all of your clocks and watches may be a pain and even wind some people up a little.
“Some people say we should abolish it. Why don’t we stay on daylight saving time all year round?” said Powers.
For provinces that do spring forward, their clocks will change this weekend.
“I think that there likely is some merit to that argument that we are saving energy,” said Mullin.
But back on the farm, Mullin says regardless of what the clocks says, “it’s always dark when I get up so it doesn’t matter that much anyway. “