Posted on 06/01/2005 6:50:25 AM PDT by Radigan
In its 85 years of existence, Smith Brothers Dairy in Kent has survived all manner of misfortune and mistakes.
There was the Depression, when milk sales plummeted. There were cow-killing floods. There were modern times, when it appeared the old-fashioned idea of fresh milk delivered to the doorstep had died.
And there was the crackdown when society realized cow manure could be as toxic to fish as anything produced at a nuclear plant.
"None of that compares to this," says Alexis Smith Koester, 60, dairy president and granddaughter of the founder, Ben Smith. "This is the biggest threat we've ever faced."
She's talking about the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed new rules that could force Smith Brothers to either give up half its business or close up shop entirely, Koester says.
What are the feds trying to stop? They're trying to keep Smith Brothers Dairy from selling its milk for less.
And we call this a capitalist country.
The dairy, which is small enough that the president answered the phone when I called, is being punished for doing too much too well.
For 75 years, milk has been heavily regulated by price and marketing controls.
People who know more about it than I do say the system works well. It protects those who own only one part of the milk business say, a farmer with cows but no milk-processing plant from being gouged by big agribusinesses.
But Smith Brothers has always been exempt from these regulations because it is so independent. It does it all. It is one of only 11 dairies left in the Northwest that raise and milk the cows as well as pasteurize and bottle the milk.
Its business model is so antiquated that most dairies like it long since went under.
Smith Brothers survived by discovering that what was old is new again. Home delivery of milk is hot. Especially if people know who owns the cows so there's a guarantee no growth hormones were used.
Remarkably, Smith Brothers now delivers milk to 40,000 homes in and around Seattle, the most in its history. And it is so efficient it does so at the same or lower prices you get in many stores.
Yet the feds, backed by the biggest dairy processors in the West, want to force Smith Brothers and other do-it-yourself dairies to sell through the government-regulated system. They say this will help the small farmers who already sell milk to big processors.
But Smith Brothers, no milk monopoly with just 1 percent of the market, would have to pay subsidies to its competitors that exceed the dairy's yearly profit. Or it would have to break up its business, and no longer provide its unique cow-to-carton-to-doorstep service.
So what we have is the government, prodded by large corporations, saying it is helping small family farms by destroying one of our most successful small family farms.
Come to think of it, I guess that is American-style capitalism after all.
Danny Westneat's column appears Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 206-464-2086 or dwestneat@seattletimes.com.
I remember the guy who used to pick up the milk cans and put them on the truck had the biggest arms I've ever seen. No steroids in that bod..........
I hate corporate welfare & protectionism. The feds have no business doing this....but somehow that never stops them.
Yep, ours too....huge arms. He would pull 'em up with one hand, swing the can and place it. Amazing strength.
I don't care who you are...thats funny.
Please read some of my post down thread.
The problem is not lack of oil drilling, but the lack of refineries. The enviro-nuts have not allowed a new refinery to built in over 25 years.
He was also a mail truck driver (long haul, at night) I used to wonder if this guy ever slept!.............
True but that has no reflection on oil prices, supply and demand dictate that. we do not import gasoline.
I did & still don't think the feds should be involved. It is that silly little lack of constitutional power thing.
Yes, but if we had more refineries to process the oil to gas, the supply would increase thereby lowering the prices.
Our food supply must be secure, a free market with free trade on imports does not do that.
No, oil prices are a world market, has no influence on the ability to refine.
What kind of milk comes from a forgetful cow?
Milk of Amnesia
Then, why did the gas prices spike after the big refinery explosion/fire a few months back?
I wrote gas prices...not oil prices.
Ok thats cute, but, our food supply must never be dependent on conglomorations or imports, the small farmer must be able to survive to ensure our existence.
Well gas prices are influenced by oil prices right?
Farmers and ranchers are typically very conservative... until you talk about their farm/ranch. Then, the quasi-socialist tradition of government price controls and handouts are -- pardon the pun -- sacred cows. I'm personally all for good ol' capitalist competition at that level just like every where else.
The small farmer in this story IS the one getting screwed.
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