Has Agriculture Reached Its Peak?

[smstonypoint]

It has something to do with Maine not being in the "Federal Order"; I don't know what that means really.

Gaining an understanding of milk pricing in the US is no small feat. I used to ask the colleague I referenced in post #59 to lecture my undergraduate agricultural marketing class on the US milk marketing system. It took all of the lecture time (75 minutes) to cover just a few of the issues involved.

My colleague was in demand as an expert witness in hearings of various state milk boards/commissions. In doing so, he obtained evidence that numeracy is not a requirement for admission to the Bar.

During cross-examination, he was asked a question to which he replied "The mean price was $x.xx/gallon."

At this point, the attorney conferred with his/her colleagues for several minutes.

The attorney then asked, "Professor, you say the mean price was $x.xx/gallon. What about the average price"?

My colleague replied, "They are synonymous."

The attorney responded, "Oh. Well, moving on."

Steve

 

[LJH]

I pay $5 a gallon from a neighbor's dairy. It's raw, with a couple inches of cream on top of each jug. As you drive up to the little on-ranch dairy store their beautiful Brown Swiss cows will meander over to say hey. I'd be hard pressed to go back to store-bought.

 

[dave1949]

Gaining an understanding of milk pricing in the US is no small feat. I used to ask the colleague I referenced in post #59 to lecture my undergraduate agricultural marketing class on the US milk marketing system. It took all of the lecture time (75 minutes) to cover just a few of the issues involved.

My colleague was in demand as an expert witness in hearings of various state milk boards/commissions. In doing so, he obtained evidence that numeracy is not a requirement for admission to the Bar.

During cross-examination, he was asked a question to which he replied "The mean price was $x.xx/gallon."

At this point, the attorney conferred with his/her colleagues for several minutes.

The attorney then asked, "Professor, you say the mean price was $x.xx/gallon. What about the average price"?

My colleague replied, "They are synonymous."

The attorney responded, "Oh. Well, moving on."

Steve

:laughing: The mean price is milk from nasty cows.

What are the chances that a Dairy Commission created in 1935 is useful? Dairy farms in Maine have largely disappeared over that time, so they didn't preserve the local industry, which would have served the Maine milk producers and consumers well. The commission is funded by a 5 cent per hundredweight tariff on raw milk it seems.

I guess it is like most things in agriculture, scale-up or get out. Declining milk products consumption doesn't help.
http://www.wmmb.com/assets/media/statistics/lg_us_per_capita_milk_sales_60_12.gif

Check out the declining number of dairy farms and rising production in Wisconsin:
http://www.wmmb.com/assets/media/statistics/lg_wi_dairy_farms_milk_production_30_12.gif

The above are from:
Dairy Statistics

 

[dave1949]

Milk is good for you according to this study.

The University of Maine - UMaine News - Study finds dairy products in adult diets improve cognitive function
Those who consumed the most dairy products had the highest scores in an extensive cognitive test battery that included multiple measures of visual-spatial ability, verbal memory, working memory, reasoning ability and executive functioning (the ability to plan, organize and integrate cognitive functions).

Diet modification to include more dairy products is one lifestyle change that could slow or prevent age-related cognitive impairment and decline, according to the researchers, who reported their findings in the International Dairy Journal.

 

[rekees4300]

Milk is good for you according to this study.

There are also studies that suggest milk causes prostate cancer. I've switched to soy milk called Silk.

PCRM | Milk and Prostate Cancer: The Evidence Mounts

 

[smstonypoint]

Milk is good for you according to this study.

http://umaine.edu/news/blog/2011/09...ts-in-adult-diets-improve-cognitive-function/

There are also studies that suggest milk causes prostate cancer. I've switched to soy milk called Silk.

[url=http://pcrm.org/health/health-topics//milk-and-prostate-cancer-the-evidence-mounts]PCRM | Milk and Prostate Cancer: The Evidence Mounts

On the bright side, you will remember to schedule your prostate exam if you do drink milk.

Steve

 

[sseelhoff]

There are also studies that suggest milk causes prostate cancer. I've switched to soy milk called Silk.

PCRM | Milk and Prostate Cancer: The Evidence Mounts

I've switched to almond milk. No cholesterol, and lower in calories than real milk.

 

[dave1949]

There are also studies that suggest milk causes prostate cancer. I've switched to soy milk called Silk.

PCRM | Milk and Prostate Cancer: The Evidence Mounts

I didn't really want to know that. I've always enjoyed dairy products although I do limit my intake.

 

[DFB]

Wow this guy has set a new harvest record and claims to have done it all through organic soil building techniques!

Record: Virginia produces world's biggest corn harvest | WashingtonExaminer.com

 

[vabiker23518]

This study suggests just that.

The study by scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln argues that there have been abrupt declines or plateaus in the rate of production of major crops which undermine optimistic projections of constantly increasing crop yields.

Seems corn, grain, and rice production has reached it limits with no serious increases over the past decade...

A concern is that despite the increase in investment in agricultural R&D and education during this period, the relative rate of yield gain for the major food crops has decreased over time together with evidence of upper yield plateaus in some of the most productive domains.

It also criticizes most other yield projection models which predict compound or exponential production increases over coming years and decades, saying these do not occur in the real world. And that such growth rates are not feasible over the long term because average farm yields eventually approach a yield potential ceiling determined by biophysical limits on crop growth rates and yield.

And goes on to say that five decades of perpetually increasing crop yields were driven by rapid adoption of technologies that were largely one-time innovations

The new research raises critical questions about the capacity of traditional industrial agricultural methods to sustain global food production for a growing world population.

And according to other links attached to the news release on the study, food production will need to increase by about 60% by 2050 to meet demand and also suggests that from another report that agro ecology based on sustainable, small-scale, organic methods could potentially double food production in entire regions facing persistent hunger, over five to 10 years.

Read more here

Dramatic decline in industrial agriculture could herald 叢eak food | The Raw Story

You know, we always get these academic reports.
Remember the theory of peak oil from the 70s? We were supposed to be out of fossil fuels by now. And where are we? 2013 was the biggest production year EVER in the US.
Remember Carl Sagan in the 90s saying we would all starve to death due to lack of food. Has that happended? I'm still eating!
There are those that will say I've got my head in the sand.... I think as long as mankind has a brain and the entrepreneurial spirit to see a need and come up with a solution, we will be just fine.