10thirtysix | Program | America's Dairyland at the Crossroads
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- Опубліковано 25 лис 2021
- Wisconsin's dairy history is an essential part of the state’s culture and an economic engine that generates $45 billion a year, much of that sustaining Main Streets in rural Wisconsin. But it continues to be at risk. Why? That's the question Milwaukee PBS producers examine in a new, hour-long documentary "America's Dairyland at the Crossroads."
The documentary is produced in partnership with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with support from PBS Frontline and the Pulitzer Center.
Same old B.S. they’ve been telling dairymen for years, get more efficient and now technology is the answer. More money for your product is the real answer.
I've heard they dairy farmers were making the same in the 80s as they do now. This is insane
Dudes - $200k he says for auto milkers ?? Then, you must upgrade the barns infrastructure to accommodate them ???
Riiiiiiight. As if "most" have THAT tucked away in their overhead/operating expense somewhere to afford it.
I don't believe automation is the answer. I think similarly, if you look at how the big box stores run the little mom & pop hardwares out, dictating pricing & availability in retail, the farms are headed in a similar direction i feel; at least in terms of resources and commerce. Those big fellas won't idly stand by and wait for their share of day to day necessities to accommodate their operations.
Size may not matter, according to banker woman, but you'd be ignorant to think they don't hold sway in the market place w/commerce decisions and how business gets done - "a nickle will never be successful at holding up a dollar".
But that's just one aspect of this entire issue, that's not just limited to agriculture. Day to day costs never level off, they continue rising for a variety of reasons - especially involving labor. Cost of living is through the stratosphere and people can't raise families on $40-$50k/year - at least on a single income or put $$$ away for a (retirement) ?!?
If you don't figure a way to stay out ahead of it (market increases) the farmer, or any businessman, is dead. I'll point to the number of farms they noted in the state at the beginning of the doc, vs the viable ones left to date. That's an incredible decrease while the population has only significantly increased.
Technology and marketing are but a few concerns, but there's a much larger problem I feel at issue - in that somebody's got to do the work. One or two men can not run an entire operation. People have to work, collectively, to accomplish what's needed to feed the masses. Fewer & fewer want to labor at anything now - this is a societal problem, and a HUGE one at that...
That's the bankers. They been promoting that for years . Spend more money get bigger you need to ship more milk to get the cash flow up..
I for one love milking. I like to get up and walk to the barn in the morning. I love the sound of the vacuum firing up, I love to interact with the cows. I'm the farmer not some dang automated machine. I liked driving a tractor and pushing up feed, it's what I do. I do it because I love it. I don't want a computer to do my job. I'm not getting rich and that fine because I love what I do and I hope I can keep doing it.
The trouble though is that the technology to run the farm is SO expensive and laborers are not always reliable
The thing that we see over here in Ireland is that the small farmers ie. The guys who employ only family are far more able to cope with the problem of price fluctuation, the guys who are heavily borrowed and employ a large number of staff are under massive pressure when prices drop most of them are tied into fixed milk price schemes because their banks forced them into it, now that costs have gone through the roof and they are getting a very poor price for most of their milk, now they can’t get staff and if they can they can’t afford to pay them . Of course we don’t have a large group of people looking work and so we generally have to pay about €20 an hour for labour and even at that there are a large number of vacancies.
€20/hour? I’m getting €15 with the farm relief services and the farmer is paying double that to the FRS, they claim the VAT back so they end up paying €24/25 an hour. The trouble with working directly for a farmer at those rates is that they are slow to pay and some don’t pay at all and just move onto another worker to do the same with. At least with the FRS you’re guaranteed your money every month.
It's just me, my husband and kids here....when its field work time it's his brother that helps and bailing hay we reach out to local farm kids that can help and we pay everyone in cash, food and drink
What is wrong with someone that wants to milk 8000 cows? Is it just greed?
No it’s a business, why when a farmer want to build his business is it called greed but if other businesses do it they call it progress?
Absolutely .
@@michaelwalsh9145 you got wrong when 1000 farms own some 50 to 20 Cows maximum they make easy money because they need less infrastructure and food for cattle. But when you start to own 1000 cows or 500 cows. Infrastructure for that farm and food to produce to that cattle tractors and chop cutters all will be needed and that price also will go high. Until you have all that on your own money you can't make a profit if you take a loan from the bank and try to recoup that money from the farm forget about dairy farming any other type of farming also will go in loss. You need to pay a loan to maintain infrastructure employee salaries everything you need to pay from that profit at the end of the day your margin from that industry is very less than you can expect profit it is just lose lose money from that business all that on your own money, you can't make a profit if you take a loan from the bank and try to recoup that money from the farm forget about dairy farming any other type of farming also will go in loss. You need to pay a loan to maintain infrastructure employee salaries everything you need to pay from that profit at the end of the day your margin from that industry is much less than you can expect profit it is just lose lose money frown
Its puts the family owned farms in jeopardy of losing it all
If these big guys didn't get so big and take on so much debt, they wouldn't need all that labor. Or go in more debt for robotic milkers.
Big case of money management issues
These big farms are a problem. Instead of 10 people owning their own farm and making food more resilient 1 guy owns 2000 cows and complaines about paying employees that should own their own farm but can't. It's infuriating, there is nothing I would rather do than be a dairy farm but it's hard.
It’s the government’s fault they don’t want family farms anymore, it’s all to do with them being globalist puppets.
Quotas for domestic consumption in my view are better for farmers , communities and the environment. I’m not against large farms but you want to produce more than the domestic market requires then play with international price
how many farmers, exposed to so-called 'fertilizer' (untested for its toxic contents) are ill or dead from such exposure? id love to see the statistics pre 1960 as compared to post year 1990s
Sorry but 200 milking cows to me is "not a small dairy farm!" If u want to see who is hit the hardest.... go look at the "real small dairy farms!". Those that milk 50 cows or less! I am one of the "real small" farms here in central Wisconsin.......ots me n my husband out there every morning and our 2 young boys every night! Our farm was established 1927 and still going. Both myself and my husband work off the farm as well....... you want to see "real" get intouch with me to live a "chore time " in our shoes!"
Just curious, did anyone get in touch with you?
W
This is what I wrote on a comment on another video. Most farms I'd see while driving around years ago were 50-150 cows on average let's say. I would call that a medium sized dairy farm. Like you said, small is under 50.
The dairy farmer I worked for in 2010 had around 45 cows, even that was a pretty big operation and the big guy in the region had 150.
@@Jordan-mt2sc who me?
@@theresahasenohrl4863yes you, anyone get in touch with you to tell your story?
Damn, farms closing in the rural areas, job loss in the manufacturing industry in the cities.
The milk quota system in Canada sucks actually and dairy is declining in Canada just as quickly
Farm-Boy - I certainly understand emotions, but Capitalism is the ultimate arbiter of money!
Milk is almost a perfect commodity and in economics perfect commodity markets are absolutely brutal and when they are healty will make tge price per unit lower and lower in inflation adjusted terms over the year's. This is tragic for any farmer who cant be in the top 20% but is how capitalism works and is by and large fantastic for consumers. I am a NY dairy farmer and if the day comes where i cant be in the top 20% so be it i will sell my cows to the better dairymen who can. If you go into commodity markets and artifically set prices above supply and demand equilibrium you just make the quota extraordinary expensive and like Canada did make dairy farm far pess efficient meaning they need to be protectionist and will lose marketshare overtime. New Zealand, Europe and many others have tried to artificially pay more and its always back fires and farm consolidated happends at the same pace as America. Folks this is how markets work if you dont like selling commodities they you need to process or build your own brand and see how hard and expensive that is. There is no perfect answer this is the real world and we must realize it and compete, sell or find a niche market. I dont like hearing farmers boo hoo me i am a victim non Sense. The government set milk prives are public algorithms that just show supply and demand and do not set prices.
you got wrong when 1000 farms own some 50 to 20 Cows maximum they make easy money because they need less infrastructure and food for cattle. But when you start to own 1000 cows or 500 cows. Infrastructure for that farm and food to produce to that cattle tractors and chop cutters all will be needed and that price also will go high. Until you have all that on your own money you can't make a profit if you take a loan from the bank and try to recoup that money from the farm forget about dairy farming any other type of farming also will go in loss. You need to pay a loan to maintain infrastructure employee salaries everything you need to pay from that profit at the end of the day your margin from that industry is very less than you can expect profit it is just lose lose money from that business all that on your own money, you can't make a profit if you take a loan from the bank and try to recoup that money from the farm forget about dairy farming any other type of farming also will go in loss. You need to pay a loan to maintain infrastructure employee salaries everything you need to pay from that profit at the end of the day your margin from that industry is much less than you can expect profit it is just lose lose money frown
We own everything here, is it new by means hell no.....things break all the time and if we r not getting a good price for our milk it's hard to keep up with repairs and then add seeds, vet care, hoof care and fuel to that, we barely break even....both my husband and I also work off the farm to offset all of this
After watching this i see why people vote republicans there.
How that works? Coz they got more subsidies when Republicans were in power?