farmerjan
Super Self-Sufficient
The whole thing with Dean foods has sent some more dairies into a tail spin. Part of the problem was when Walmart built their own huge processing plant, then contracted with a few dairies to supply it so that they did not have to go through the "middleman" of Dean foods. As much as I do not like the mega-milk co-operatives, they (Dean) still were picking up from the smaller farms. And don't get me started on our sec of ag, Sonny Perdue. Did anyone hear his comments at the national dairy conf about how there would be smaller dairies going out of business and that was basically "collateral damage".... that the way in the future was get bigger or get out. Anyone on here remember the whole fiasco with Earl Butz and the plant "fencerow to fencerow" of the 70's ????? He helped to make a mess of the agriculture in the US and started us on the path to destruction of our balance with nature. I am not such a fanatic that I don't think that there is a place for some "modern ag".. Tractors really are an improvement over horse power in some ways, and allow OLDER farmers to continue on with stuff that they could not due to physical strength and limitations alone. GPS and all the modern technologies do allow farmers to be more precise with planting, fertilizing, analysing their field conditions. Way beyond me in many ways.
But most on here are here because we do believe in being more self reliant, trying to keep alive the "old ways" of doing some things because GOD FORBID, if we have a world wide crisis, we might be the only ones left that will be able to provide for the ones in our own circle, neighborhood, family.
I am not as self-sufficient as some on here. I do not make my own cheese, or other things from my own cows milk. Some of it is due to being more busy than I want with our farming enterprise that my son & I have. But as I get older, and get to retirement, there are more things that I want to get back to. Still being involved in the commercial dairy industry, I see what is happening and it is a sad thing. The smaller farmers are getting out. Most are aging out. The commercial dairy cattle (namely Holsteins) have an average life of 2 lactations. There is no emphasis put on the bloodlines like all the smaller farmers would do, breeding their cattle for ALL AROUND traits. Things like sexed semen have made buying a replacement heifer more economical than raising up your own, because there are so many of them. The "other breeds" are not "important" to most commercial farmers. Yes , there is movement for the "better milk" A2 which has shown to be more digestible and to be better for people to drink. Believe it or not many holsteins were A2 way back when before they wanted quantity over quality.... the only reason Jerseys have realized such a comeback was they had not been ruined by trying to make them such milk wagons while losing all their other traits. Guernseys were pretty much destroyed and I seriously don't know if there will ever be a resurgence. The bloodlines today are so "bred up" from the old style guernsey that they are not of the same type anymore. They are much less hardy now, have more breeding problems than you can imagine. Don't produce enough milk to make them competitive or even practical to feed. They are my favorite breed, and I have a hard time justifying trying to keep it alive.
I could go on and on. I have lost 8 herds to being sold out in the last 2 years. I am a milk tester, 29 yrs, and have seen a decline that has never happened except maybe in the great depression. Va alone lost 12 farms in September this year. We are not nearly the size of Wisconsin, Minn and other "dairy states".
One thing I can say, is that the youth of today are smart to not want to be tied down to a dairy because of the total commitment to it. Because the families are smaller, there are not other members to "spread the work around to". A farm of 50 cows cannot support more than one family and can't do that very well, unless they have no debt. There is so much else going on that most do not want to have to be tied to 2x a day milking, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The only way is for them to get bigger, with hired help, so that they can get a little time off. And to do that now, you have to get big, 500 cows or more.....
I am also a big milk drinker. I refuse to drink low fat milk. The poster above that talked about low fat and skim milk is right. You do not get the benefit of the milk's nutrients out of skim milk. The fat helps the body utilize the fat soluble vitamins and minerals. Also, NON-HOMOGENIZED milk's fat globules are larger, and will not permeate the walls of the intestines like homogenized milk. Therefore, the fat doesn't get into the body in places that it can't be utilized. The only way to drink milk is "creamline" or non-homogenized....
Remember when eggs were bad for you...yet the cholesterol in the yolks is perfectly balanced by the whites and one should not be eaten without the other...... and MARGARINE was supposed to be so much better than real butter..... only NO it is not better for you.....
But most on here are here because we do believe in being more self reliant, trying to keep alive the "old ways" of doing some things because GOD FORBID, if we have a world wide crisis, we might be the only ones left that will be able to provide for the ones in our own circle, neighborhood, family.
I am not as self-sufficient as some on here. I do not make my own cheese, or other things from my own cows milk. Some of it is due to being more busy than I want with our farming enterprise that my son & I have. But as I get older, and get to retirement, there are more things that I want to get back to. Still being involved in the commercial dairy industry, I see what is happening and it is a sad thing. The smaller farmers are getting out. Most are aging out. The commercial dairy cattle (namely Holsteins) have an average life of 2 lactations. There is no emphasis put on the bloodlines like all the smaller farmers would do, breeding their cattle for ALL AROUND traits. Things like sexed semen have made buying a replacement heifer more economical than raising up your own, because there are so many of them. The "other breeds" are not "important" to most commercial farmers. Yes , there is movement for the "better milk" A2 which has shown to be more digestible and to be better for people to drink. Believe it or not many holsteins were A2 way back when before they wanted quantity over quality.... the only reason Jerseys have realized such a comeback was they had not been ruined by trying to make them such milk wagons while losing all their other traits. Guernseys were pretty much destroyed and I seriously don't know if there will ever be a resurgence. The bloodlines today are so "bred up" from the old style guernsey that they are not of the same type anymore. They are much less hardy now, have more breeding problems than you can imagine. Don't produce enough milk to make them competitive or even practical to feed. They are my favorite breed, and I have a hard time justifying trying to keep it alive.
I could go on and on. I have lost 8 herds to being sold out in the last 2 years. I am a milk tester, 29 yrs, and have seen a decline that has never happened except maybe in the great depression. Va alone lost 12 farms in September this year. We are not nearly the size of Wisconsin, Minn and other "dairy states".
One thing I can say, is that the youth of today are smart to not want to be tied down to a dairy because of the total commitment to it. Because the families are smaller, there are not other members to "spread the work around to". A farm of 50 cows cannot support more than one family and can't do that very well, unless they have no debt. There is so much else going on that most do not want to have to be tied to 2x a day milking, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The only way is for them to get bigger, with hired help, so that they can get a little time off. And to do that now, you have to get big, 500 cows or more.....
I am also a big milk drinker. I refuse to drink low fat milk. The poster above that talked about low fat and skim milk is right. You do not get the benefit of the milk's nutrients out of skim milk. The fat helps the body utilize the fat soluble vitamins and minerals. Also, NON-HOMOGENIZED milk's fat globules are larger, and will not permeate the walls of the intestines like homogenized milk. Therefore, the fat doesn't get into the body in places that it can't be utilized. The only way to drink milk is "creamline" or non-homogenized....
Remember when eggs were bad for you...yet the cholesterol in the yolks is perfectly balanced by the whites and one should not be eaten without the other...... and MARGARINE was supposed to be so much better than real butter..... only NO it is not better for you.....
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