(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Dairy Farmers struggle newspaper article ....

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse

Well-known Member
I read this article in today's paper, it refers specifically to a dairy farm family in NY State and generally to the dairy industry. I know very little if anything about the dairy industry here or down south but when I finished reading this, a guy realizes that things can be very tough for a lot of farm families. And when I see the malls on TV packed elbow to elbow with people spending money, a lot of it on things they don't really need, this dairy farm situation really hits home. I'm sure there is a lot more to this than what I read but it leaves me saddened if the statistics about where government farm support ends up is accurate.
Untitled URL Link
 
Dairy farmers are some of the hardest working people i know, my Dad and brother were, it wasn't for me i liked grain farming better. But they have a investment and figure they have to stay in it, but the little bit i know about it actually isn't to bad, now,it's been worse about 5 years, i got a good friend who son is on a 3rd generation farm south of Green Bay,that's what he told me a month ago!
 
Agriculture is a pawn in the hands of those whom collect and spend tax $$$. If the common man has to spend too much of his earnings on food, he cannot buy other frivolous any often unnecessary items, and that slows the overall economy. If the common man starts to go hungry, open revolt occurs. So in short , regardless which sector of agriculture you choose to look at, keeping food prices low to the consumer is the main goal of elected officials. The effects on the minority of voters which grow crops raise livestock is inconsequential in comparison to the short term goals of being elected to office and holding as well as maintaining power. Someone will grow the food, somewhere. Globalization hasn?t been the best friend of the common individual , in so far as the lasting effects on generations to come. Land is rapidly moving into the hands of the few. North America was settled by people that were mere surfs, and could never expect to own land. We are once again heading back to surfs. Land being held by modern day Lords we call investors.
 
Not to judge but I expect there?d be an extremely low income milking 65 cows in New York State now a days. I was told a year ago by bankers/accountants here in Canada if your not milking close to or over a hundred cows your probably not going to make it much longer. 650 would be considered small there let alone 65. It?d be comparable to milking 10 cows here in Canada,ya that family would be having it extremely difficult feeding a large family in the US on 65 cows.
 
Why is anyone that owns any amount of land going hungry especially a farmer? Used to be every farm had a big garden and I would assume all the milk that they can use since they are dairy farmers.Farmers having to go to a food bank? Give me a break.Look at all the things that can be made out of milk.When I was a kid we hand milked cows,raised a big garden,had fruit trees,grape vines etc we didn't have much money but ate better than most people do today.I still do the same things BTW.The economy is changing for everyone not just dairy farmers,the business models that worked in 1970 ain't working today in any industry so why would dairy farmers think they are immune from the over all changes?I'm sure that people that made horse harness and horse collars went thru the same thing way back when.
 
Automation, BTO mega operations, price supports, and dietary changes in the US population, have all contributed to the struggle of the least efficient. I was born into a 24 cow farm that was forced to go either to a higher investment sanitary processing technology, suffer with 1/2 price low grade milk, or stop doing it. My grand father made the decision to grow row crops. The cows went to the Knackers in 1955. I still remember 5 cow names, and the look in the bulls eye that prevented any human (kid) contact. Jim
 
I competed in public speaking contests in FFA when I was in high school in the early '60's. The theme of my speech was that consumers were only spending 20% of their disposable income on food and farm products, as compared to a much higher percentage in the olden days, and hence the farmer's income was not sufficient. Now I think the percentage is under 10.
 
I agree with you more often than disagree TF. I grew up on a farm that had most near everything we needed to eat, from fruit trees, berry?s vegetables, milk , meat , eggs poultry and fowl. No one says a farmer can?t still be sell sufficient, but it takes effort and skill and time.
 
If you think low food prices are the driving force these days you need to go into some supermarkets around my area like Wegmans,Whole Foods,Traders Joes some small stores
all get a very high premium for providing the products that consumers want to buy.The problem with many farmers these day is they think they can force what they want to grow and raise on the consuming public.They can to a certain extent but they are selling to folks on the bottom of the economic scale and get predictably bottom prices.
Farmers have forgotten one major thing in business the customer is king and consumers will drive the market not the producers.
 
A TV cost 5X what they do now and are were not near the quality they are today.TV builders don't try to sell the same TV today as then, they changed with the market and the technology,some farmers apparently didn't get the memo they need to change with the times.
 
Going hungry is the least of a persons worries, if you have a catastrophic health issue and no insurance you'r instantly bankrupt, and there goes the farm! How many small farmers can afford $1000 + per month insurance? This explains a lot of the farmer suicides! Now Bruce, and others living in a developed country like Canada have better health care for half the cost, we in the US are getting $crewed!
 
When I was a County Commissioner, farmers would routinely complain about their real estate taxes being too high, which we Commissioners had no control over, taxes being set by the state legislature.

I always said I didn't mind a farmer complaining to me about his taxes being too high, but he'd better not be driving a new $50,000 pickup when he complained.
 
I think the primary problem is overproduction. Same thing happened to egg production back in the 60's. The little egg producers went out of business. All that is left are the huge egg producers.

Dairy farmers keep getting bigger and bigger. I have a cousin who's operation is milking 2200 cows, and probably more today. That's a lot of milk.
 
The trend for all is consolidation, and control of those resources. Happens to all, via the spreadsheet. It?s just simple math. Emotions/feelings have nothing to do with it.
Happened to oil producers in early 1900?s, and then......
Cars.
Electronics
Pigs
Chickens
Money.
Tractors
Etc.

A clever peasant sees the trend, teams up and uses volume to kill their competitor, and are then purchased by large investors, who continue the trend.

Once Walmart and Costco make all the milk and rotisserie chickens, they will be to big too fail. They will be granted power to keep on producing, by our government. Similar to Goldman Sachs / GM /AIG / CBOT - regardless of any disastrous decisions they make along the way.

You have no choice. The spreadsheet shows you the inevitable end. Look to history - this has all occurred before. Be happy with your toys and snacks, and your ability to complain about how tough life is on forums - it?s all you get, which is not so terrible.

You wound up with far more than Native Americans did, for now at least.
 
I believe that all the big outlets are going vertical, that means they own their own dairies. The only way for small dairies to survive is to provide to the end customer with something that differentiates. This will be an extremely small number of independent dairies.

There is a small dairy, I believe Hansen, near Waterloo that seems to be doing well.
 
The last time I bought milk at Walmart the "best by date" on the gallon jugs was two weeks out. Out of curiosity I kept one gallon in the refrigerator for two weeks before opening it and it was still good. Walmart must have their logistics down to where they have milk on a store shelf within 24 hours or less after it left the cow. That kind of freshness and quality has some value for both the consumers and retailers.

Even Henry Ford had to eventually give up building his beloved Model T cars and deliver what the market wanted.
 
A very important part of the dairy industry decline is the dropping consumption of traditional milk. Per capita, consumption of cow's milk is declining while consumption of substitute milks like soy milk, almond milk etc. Keep increasing. Most of us on this board were raised in the days when children were supposed to be drinking two or more glasses of milk each day. I don't hear this recommendation any more. Dean Foods, who had bought up a lot of independent dairy processing plants, filed bankruptcy recently. I noticed that their "Dairypure" milk disappeared from our dollar General store. I don't agree with the trend away from cow's milk for children and towards milk substitutes. We raised our children with plenty of milk, which I believe helps with teeth and bone formation, along with providing protein to help build muscle. I don't think the dairy industry overall was willing to admit the seriousness of the lactose intolerance problem. I know many people who can drink A2 milk but can't tolerate A1. No one can assume that they will be able to continue the profession of their parents and grandparents. Small farms that are adapting to changing markets are surviving. Looks like in the future, there will be mega farms mostly owned and controlled by mega retailers and producing commodity milk and crops. There will also be small farms who adapt quickly to changing consumer demand and find ways to sell directly to end users.
 
Theres only 3-4 dairy farms left in my county...Two of the owners came from New Zealand
and have some pretty good size herds..One is over 3000 cows..Not that many years ago there
were about 40-50 dairy farms in my county..When I was kid almost everyone in the neighborhood
had a grade C dairy and milked 10-15 cows..
 
When your margins are small if you still have one you have to produce more product to make a living ,just the way it works,the big get bigger
 
When you read about all the Dairy products we aren't suppose to eat that's a big start. If every person would just drink a glass of whole milk for breakfast look how demand would just go up. An tell me how that is going to affect your health too much BS goes on about our food supply.
 
Times change.
Not many 40 acres and a mule farms left, in fact not many 160 acre farms left.
Not many blacksmith shops, or harness shops, or shoe repair shops.
Not many 2 bay gas stations, or Mom&Pop Grocery stores.
Not many TV repair or radio repair shops.
Locally owned appliance stores? Small new car dealers? Small tractor stores?
Mens dress suit stores? (Few ever wear a suit even to a funeral.
Shoe factories, clothing factories, textile factories?

The list goes on and on, but happens so slowly that we often don't notice until someone points it out.
I've noticed that the big drugstore chains must have over expanded. There are 5 recently built and recently closed stores in Lexington,KY.
 
I've been on a farm all my life,sure health insurance costs money like everything else.sometimes I bought health insurance sometimes it was a job perk.A any rate to me it was better to buy insurance than to pay 18









I'll take buying insurance over paying 18% tax on everything I buy to get some gov't administered insurance.I was forced into Big O insurance because of the lie about being able to keep my old insurance BTW.
 
The reason you were not allowed to keep your old insurance is it must of been substandard, just a little better than nothing! We had BCBS and kept it and our good doctors, just like O said. When he made that statement he didn't realize how many bad insurance plans there were!
 
If I were to follow your advice, I would be sick for a week for every glass of whole milk that I drank.

I have a partial intolerance of lactose. I can eat cheese and butter, but whole milk and soft ice cream will double me over with stomach cramps.
 
Substandard? B-S! I was paying about $500 a month for a BETTER policy than I was going to have to pay over double for under gov't health care.End result I went without insurance.If O care was so great the A holes in Congress that voted it in would have signed onto it instead of having their own.
 
Look at the picture of that filthy barn and cows. See why I quit milk products. I've stopped eating most beef because it's mostly from those same cows. And lastly, we bought a high priced spiral cut ham for Christmas dinner and the fat wasn't solid, it was like a thick oil, soy comes to mind. Vegan is looking pretty good right now. Back to potatoes, greens and garden produce of my childhood days.
 
Those kind never make it, they took over an existing operation when milk prices were high and ran it into the ground, look at those pictures, filth in the barn, ?can?t even feed themselves? tells you all you need to know. Been plenty like them fail and ?go on the government? as the saying used to go, look around and discover that the thrifty and hardworking keep on ticking along.
 
How many dollar$ worth do they care? Most people's caring stops when it starts costing them money.Anyway turning farming operations into charity cases is not a feasible
solution.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Younger people driving and other things that have changed!!!
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
Steve@Advance
S
G
A TRUE LOVE STORY
2
Replies
31
Views
4K
barnE
B
A
ot Manufactoring
2
Replies
32
Views
5K
Dunk
D
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top