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Dairy farming is dying. After 40 years, I’m done
Washington Post ^ | Dec 21, 2018 | Jim Goodman

Posted on 12/26/2018 12:00:12 PM PST by ETL

Edited on 12/26/2018 12:14:14 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]

After 40 years of dairy farming, I sold my herd of cows this summer. The herd had been in my family since 1904; I know all 45 cows by name. I couldn

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: butter; cheese; cream; dairy; icecream; lactaid; lowfat; milk; skim; whole; yogurt
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

What the country needs is a good mohair subsidy.
-——Sam Donaldson


81 posted on 12/26/2018 1:28:43 PM PST by sparklite2 (See more at Sparklite Times)
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To: Izzy Dunne

“If your cows are 114 years old, maybe that’s the problem.”

Yup, don’t call me for dinner when you butcher those 114 year old cows. They would just be a leather bag of gristle by then. It would like trying to eat Ruth Ginsberg.


82 posted on 12/26/2018 1:31:07 PM PST by Beagle8U (Beto went to Liz Warren's genealogist to prove that he was 1/1000 Hispanic.)
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To: SaveFerris

Cows are very curious.They also love music,especially live music.


83 posted on 12/26/2018 1:38:06 PM PST by Farmer Dean (168 grains of instant conflict resolution)
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To: Farmer Dean

Yep. Buddy of mine had some at his parent’s farm. When feeding time came some of them liked to poke him from behind, in the behind, and almost lift him off the ground.

With very little effort.


84 posted on 12/26/2018 1:39:33 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: DannyTN

The roundup makes the crop ripen quicker.The goal is to harvest the wheat earlier so they can no-till soybeans sooner.


85 posted on 12/26/2018 1:44:58 PM PST by Farmer Dean (168 grains of instant conflict resolution)
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To: ETL

The tablets containing lactase work fine for me so I can drink or eat regular dairy products.


86 posted on 12/26/2018 1:47:57 PM PST by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: Farmer Dean
Cows... also love music, especially live music.

gifs website




Related image

87 posted on 12/26/2018 1:49:43 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: steve86
The tablets containing lactase work fine for me so I can drink or eat regular dairy products.

Thanks! I wondered about that.

88 posted on 12/26/2018 1:51:19 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: dfwgator

I have a friend making automated Chicken houses. Evidently it’s a pretty competitive venture.

When the famine comes there will be plenty of people who just need to come up with electricity to keep their automated homestead running.

For now, I’m just happy about all my friends who give me free eggs.


89 posted on 12/26/2018 1:55:49 PM PST by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: dfwgator

I have a friend making automated Chicken houses. Evidently it’s a pretty competitive venture.

When the famine comes there will be plenty of people who just need to come up with electricity to keep their automated homestead running.

For now, I’m just happy about all my friends who give me free eggs.


90 posted on 12/26/2018 1:55:51 PM PST by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: Perseverando
The main reason Mr. Goodman did not succeed in business is that he seems to be another deluded liberal. He claims that it was too hot for his cows to be outside in the summer, so he put fans in his barn, but the summer temperatures in Wonewoc Wisconsin where he claims to have farmed are nowhere near too hot for dairy cows.

If you can't tell what the temperature is, or think 70 degrees is too hot for your cows, you probably won't make other business decisions very well either.

Weather from www.city-data.com

91 posted on 12/26/2018 1:57:41 PM PST by freeandfreezing
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To: Aussiebabe; Jeff Chandler
It was a phony article anyway. Another hobby farmer trying to make it in the organic industry. With 45 cows, nearly impossible to compete.

Yes. He simply cannot produce milk at a price people are willing to pay.

92 posted on 12/26/2018 2:00:36 PM PST by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: freeandfreezing
There are 19 dairy farms listed for Wonewoc, Wisconsin.
93 posted on 12/26/2018 2:08:03 PM PST by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: freeandfreezing
City data seems to be blocking access to that image, so here is the url for the page on city-data.com

An even better chart is provided by the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. The summer temperatures aren't any hotter than they were many times before in the long history of the farm.


94 posted on 12/26/2018 2:13:06 PM PST by freeandfreezing
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To: marktwain
Yes, and Mr. Goodman laments that a few large organic milk operations in Texas outproduce all of the Wisconsin organic milk farms.

It is hard to see how supposedly rising temperatures are a problem if your competition is located in Texas!

95 posted on 12/26/2018 2:15:16 PM PST by freeandfreezing
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To: ETL

A billowing bale of bovine fodder...


96 posted on 12/26/2018 2:19:24 PM PST by mywholebodyisaweapon (Thank God for President Trump.)
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To: freeandfreezing

Rising temperatures would increase the growing season in Wisconsin. Rising temperatures would make Wisconsin farms *more productive*.


97 posted on 12/26/2018 2:19:30 PM PST by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: ETL

When I started practice 35 years ago there were sixteen dairies in my care. In ten years they were all gone. I noticed government regulation getting stricter making it harder for the smaller dairies to compete. At the beginning of my practice, half of the business was large animal. When I stopped it was less than 5%.


98 posted on 12/26/2018 2:25:30 PM PST by vetvetdoug
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To: ETL

There are economies of scale in farming. The little guys get squeezed out unless they are propped up by government interventions. “Organic” farming compounds the problem, because “organic” as currently defined by regulation requires a commitment to museum agriculture.


99 posted on 12/26/2018 2:41:06 PM PST by sphinx
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To: marktwain

Of course. In Wisconsin warmer temperatures would help dairy farmers. But Mr. Goodman was buying fans since he thought the 70 degree days were too hot for his cows. That is just clueless. Or he put in the barn fans for his own comfort while working in his barn.


100 posted on 12/26/2018 2:44:08 PM PST by freeandfreezing
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