Farmers Weekly Farmers tend to gradually wind down their work as they reach old age, but no one told Devonshire farmer Alec Burrough.
Despite being classed as very high risk to coronavirus, the 86-year-old is working every day to keep Britain farming and help #FeedTheNation.
He is still using the same 54-year-old red Nuffield 10/60 tractor to carry out a range of daily tasks on the organic family dairy farm he moved to as a young boy in Cullompton, Devon.
He has been farming full-time for the past 71 years.
As one of the 1.5 million classed as āextremely vulnerableā by the UK government, this has not deterred him from carrying out the essential role he plays as a key worker during the crisis that has gripped Britain.
At a time when there is a shortage of farmworkers in the UK, Mr Burrough, an avidĀ Farmers WeeklyĀ reader, is a true inspiration.
His list of daily jobs includes work in the yard, on the tractor in the fields and calf rearing.
Mr Burrough, who has suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) for many years, said: āIām just doing what Iāve always done and making sure people stay fed.
āPeople with a serious lung condition like mine are told to try to stay active, and Iām definitely doing that.
āIf someone had told me Iād still be using the same Nuffield tractor to do my job 54 years on, Iād say that was a good investment.ā
Hard work and frugality
Mr Burrough said his childhood spent farming during the Second World War instilled in him an appreciation of hard work, frugality and working together for the common good.
āDuring the war, we had to work together and make the most of everything we had,ā he explained.
āWe didnāt take anything for granted.
