Sad day for this farmer

[widefat]

How does a small farm stay competitive?

Falling milk prices sour a way of life for Culpeper dairy farmer | Cse | starexponent.com

 

[oosik]

A sad but too often heard story. Somebody thought they could make a go with this land - its unfortunate that the farmer and his family could not change with the times and continue......... This story is being heard all across the country.

 

[Bird]

I'll admit that I, like most people, I guess, like for prices on all groceries to stay low. But having grown up raising our own chickens and hogs, and milking our own cow when I was kid, I've never understood how milk and egg prices stay as low as they are. It seems that you have to be a huge company with lots of money to just get started in any business these days.

 

[smstonypoint]

How does a small farm stay competitive?

Falling milk prices sour a way of life for Culpeper dairy farmer | Cse | starexponent.com

Are you located in Culpeper County?

I worked as a farm mortgage field representative for a life insurance company from May 1972 to March 1974 (after I finished my BS and before I started grad school) and was stationed in Culpeper.

The link says there are now only seven dairy farms in the county. That's quite a decline from the number in the early 1970s. At that time, several farmers had consolidated their milking operations at a facility at Brandy Station. Is that operation still in business?

Steve

 

[LouNY]

It's now down to $14 a hundred with an new added $50 pickup fee on top of the mileage hauling, none of the under 500 cow dairys in this area will last much longer, the 3-4000 cow operations will last longer because the banks don't know what to do with them so they keep lending them money, many are multi millions in debt. :smiley_aafz:

 

[Gem99ultra]

I certainly sympathize with your dilemma Widefat...

The other day I bought milk at Wally World for $1.08/gallon. hmmm - there's no way in he** a dairy farmer could supply milk and send it through retailers for $1.08/gallon. Heck - just the container would probably cost half of that selling price. Of course, I did buy some at that price. A couple of weeks later Wally raised the price back to a more reasonable $3.49/gallon. Even the little corner quick stop markets charge near $5.00/gallon. Who knows what is a 'fair price' for a gallon of milk these days?

And on the other side of the milk market, there's been so much promotion for almond milk. Then there's the minority that are lactose allergic. Those factors surely have hit the milk market a bit.

I for one, love milk. I'd rather have a cold glass of milk any day over a cold beer. (Yeah, I know... that's strange!) Milk at one time was taunted to be the basic health drink. We don't see much of that advertisement any longer.

The dairy farmer totally has my support. That's not anything like an easy task, a few have the expertise and drive to do it. All of the automation in the world doesn't make dairy farming an easy living.

 

[widefat]

The Farm: 242 Acre Dairy Farm in Culpeper VA The farm is in Brandy Station.

Steve, I am one county away from Culpeper. I am not sure about the bigger Brandy operation. Most of the farms around here are beef. I have talked to a couple, and the money seems to be in shipping the beef to Japan.

The other day, the wife purchased eggs from a nearby ALDI for .69 a dozen, and they were good eggs.

Gem, I hear you re milk - there was little better for me than a big glass of milk after working on a hot day. I used to down A LOT of milk. Unfortunately, I became lactose intolerant and have to severely limit my dairy intake.

The amount of money it takes in equipment and supplies to run a farm is mind boggling. And the work - jeez. The beef farmer across the road works before sunup to sundown, every stinking day.

 

[mark02tj]

Gem, I hear you re milk - there was little better for me than a big glass of milk after working on a hot day. I used to down A LOT of milk. Unfortunately, I became lactose intolerant and have to severely limit my dairy intake.

Now they sell something called "A2" milk that is designed for lactose intolerant people. Comes straight out of the cow that way, not like Lactaid or other similarly treated milks.

I've also read about folks that were lactose intolerant that started drinking whole, unpasteurized milk straight from small dairy farms. They eventually lost their intolerance.

Back on topic - tough to see what has been happening to family farm operations over the last few decades.

 

[ovrszd]

The Dairy industry has been subsidized and government controlled for decades. In the late 70s thru mid 80s Dairy farmers were "bought out" by the government to limit production. Now every aspect is controlled. This method of control automatically squeezes out the small family dairy farm. USDA doesn't want small family farms in any aspect of agricultural production. I don't see this trend ever changing Get big or get out.

This mentality is even prevalent in AG related industry. Not picking on them but, John Deere has done this with their dealer network. Our local family owned dealership was forced out 6 years ago. JD said expand and buy/sell more equipment or we'll stop franchising you. Now the conglomerate that bought them is on the verge of being swallowed by a larger chain.

This is very complex and extremely hard to fully understand. But rest assured if all the large operations sold out and you had to rely on the single family farmer with 10 cows for your next gallon of milk you would quickly kick the habit. It would be cheaper to drink champagne.

 

[ovrszd]

the 3-4000 cow operations will last longer because the banks don't know what to do with them so they keep lending them money, many are multi millions in debt. :smiley_aafz:

Being multi millions of dollars in debt is daily business for any large operation regardless of product. Good friend of mine signed a $7M loan in February to plant his 2018 crops. Loan matures 31 December. That's just the borrowed money to put in the crop. Now add the machinery debt and land debt. Very common for him to carry $15M of debt. And don't kid yourself, the banks will sell him out in a heartbeat if he gets behind.