It isn't "Big Milk's" Fault, it's the "Big Picture"

NPR posted an article 2 weeks ago "As Big Milk moves in, Family-Owned U.S. Dairy Farms Rapidly Fold." This article highlighted a Vermont dairy farmer who was selling his cows, exiting the industry like so many other farms in the country.  The article goes onto to describe from the farmer's perspective that large dairies are producing more milk, more economically and forcing smaller family farms out of business.  It took me some time to come up with an adequate response to this article because my first reaction was a heart wrenching, blood boiling one.  "Big milk" isn't the issue in this story, it is more of a "Big picture" issue for U.S. dairy farmers, no matter the size or scale. 

It's no secret that dairy farming is a capital intense industry but what does that REALLY mean?  It means that in order to produce any amount of milk, there are so many large and expensive purchases that need to be made.  Everything from cows that cost $1500 or more each to vacuum pumps that make it possible to milk cows and move milk to the cooling tanks that cost over $5000.  Add a new barn for 150 cows that might cost over $400,000 and a parlor that is also $400,000.  These prices aren't top of the line either.  If a dairyman wants to add technology to his farm, those prices go even higher.   To try to control these costs, often, brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, uncles, and grandparents are joining to form farm family companies.  This means that the over all cost of the farm can be spread over more family members and allows for younger family members to have a chance to farm like their elders.  97% of all dairy farms are family own and operated. 

Another way to stay in the business is diversification.  Many dairy farmers have a spouse that has an off farm job that pays for family expenses and health insurance.  Some dairies are diversifying into producing other agricultural products like beef, sheep, and pigs.  Maybe those farms are making their own cheese and yogurt.   I know locally many farmers that are raising vegetable crops to make extra income to survive.  Many others are capitalizing on markets for organic milk, noting that all milk is milk, safe and nutritious but that there are consumers willing to pay more money for organic milk and these farmers are willing and able to produce it. 

Dairy farming is very difficult to start and it is even harder to continue doing, especially with the volatile milk prices and consumers that are demanding more from already stressed farmers.   Consumers demands are a good thing in most cases, encouraging sustainable practices and improved efficiencies but these demands often come in the form of expensive regulations that make paper work a full time job for most dairy farmers.  Innovation is expensive and often in order to implement innovations a dairy farmer will have to increase his milk production either through adding more cows and/or increasing the amount of milk produced per cow.  The great news is that dairy farmers are producing more milk with less resources, leaving a smaller carbon footprint than our predecessors but this increased milk is also keeping milk prices low. 

Another factor is that the average American is falling short on getting their 3 servings of dairy each day and we are also seeing continued decreasing in consumption of fluid good old fashion white milk.  Truth is that consumers are no longer having meals as families and as a result they are not drinking milk with their dinners but soft drinks and water instead.  If each American had 3 servings of dairy the impact on family dairy farmers would be huge!  So the question becomes, as a consumer, what can you do to save these family dairy farmers???

• Drink Milk! 3 servings each day for your health! It's local, traveling within a 200 mile radius of the store you buy it at and from cow to table in 48 hours!
• Understand the issues of sustainability and environment that face farmers.  In order to achieve these goals there has to be extra income to pay for these innovations and that income usually comes in the form of more milk. 
• Understand that technology that makes the quality of life better for a dairy farmer costs a lot of money and that makes it very difficult for smaller farmers to add technology to their farms.
• Advocate for your local farmers by telling your friends about how great and local milk is!  It takes all sizes of farms to feed the world, we need all farms!
• Understand that multi-generational farms allow for small farms to be packed into larger farms, which provides technology and innovation.   We're doing more with less!
• Spread the word that all farms are reducing their carbon footprint and making a real impact on the environment, which is good for everyone!!!

It's not "big milk" as much as it is the "big picture" so pour and glass of cold milk and support your local dairy farmers!!!  Help keep them in business for their next generations of dairy farmers!

DMI is Farmer Funded NOT Government Funded!

Well, looks like they've done it again! Yet again, the major media sources (this time newspapers) have decided to run a story without checking all of the facts!  This time, while it's not a direct attack on dairy farmers, it is an attack on our promotion group, Dairy Management Inc (DMI).  DMI is under fire for promoting the consumption of cheese in partnership with Domino's. If you would like to see all of the misinformation corrected, please check out Year of Plenty Blog, where the truth is reported.  I am instead going to talk about the most important "false" fact of the news story: DMI is NOT funded by tax payer dollars, but instead by hard working dairy farmers like us!

As a dairy farmer, we proudly pay $.15 per every 100 pounds of milk that we sell for the Dairy CheckOff.  With 100 cows, averaging 85 pounds each day, 365 days a year, we produce about 3 million pounds of milk, thereby contributing over $4600 each year to national and local advertising, research, promotion, and nutrition education.  About 1/3 of this goes to national (DMI) and about 2/3's stays local (Midwest Dairy Association).  We are confident that our money is being spent carefully, because each of these organizations are managed by boards composed of dairy farmers, elected by dairy farmers.  Each year, area dairy farmers volunteer their time to work (for those of us who don't have the time) developing and approving new ideas.  These boards and organizations are also responsible for making partnerships with restaurants, schools and even the NFL!  Recently, DMI partnered with the NFL to develop Fuel Up to Play 60....a program that targets childhood obesity through nutrition education (yes, diets rich in low fat dairy products!) and physical activity. 

DMI supports nutrition, health and wellness with over 50% of their annual budget.  Research is being done at various universities across the country innovating new products to promote wellness.  I remember while at SDSU, 5 years ago, research was being done on making low fat cheese more taste appealing (obviously fat in cheese helps give its flavor, and as an industry we are working to improve the flavor of low fat cheese as an alternative for consumers).  Research is also being done to improve sustainability on dairy farms just like ours, through management practices.  Some of the local funds also support the Minnesota Dairy Princess Program....Princess Kay of the Milky Way; Not tax payers, but dairy farmers, funding all of these excellent projects.

DMI is a source of pride on our farm.  As a farmer, we are also busy working to care for our cows and land, leaving little time in the day for promotion....that's where DMI steps in to fill that void!  We appreciate their efforts on all fronts involving dairy.  As a local dairy princess coordinator, I am greatly appreciative of funds to help educate kids and adults about dairy farming and products.  But, yet again, DMI is funded by the dairy check off...not taxes.  So....tax payers can rest easy, your money isn't funding DMI, dairy farmers are funding DMI!