Farmers in trouble: Milk Prices Drop 50%. Discuss.
The LA Times notes that Farmers are looking for help from the Federal Government:
Reporting from Washington - With dairy prices off nearly 40% from last year's peak, farmers, industry advocates and milk processors filled a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing room Tuesday to discuss lasting solutions to their crisis.
Consumer demand, particularly for cheese, has slipped amid the worldwide economic downturn. But production continued to grow. In September, the price dairy farmers received for 100 pounds of milk was $11.90, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, down from a high of $19.50 in June 2008.
The surplus is not easy to eliminate, because dairy cows must be milked -- or slaughtered. With the average cost of producing milk around $18 per 100 pounds, depending on the state, farmers lose money every day.
And their plight, Wisconsin dairy farmer Paul Toft said during the Capitol Hill hearing, affects all Americans.
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More background from USA Today:
There are several reasons for the implosion: oversupply, falling export demand and continued high prices for supplies such as feed. The dairy sector in the past has been less prone to huge price swings than other areas of agriculture, but that's changing as the industry relies more on the markets and less on government programs.
"Up until recently, the U.S. dairy industry was fairly isolated. It isn't anymore," says Roger Hoskin, a dairy analyst at the U.S. Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service.
"Call it globalization. ... When the export market is strong, they do well; when the export market is weak, domestic use is not enough," Hoskin says.
MIlk Prices Fall
I own Goatopia Dairy in Leadville Co. We sell goat shares. Which means that our clients buy 1/6 of one of our goats. We can then sell them goat milk raw or pasturized. The price for our clients comes out to be about $2.50 a quart. The local in store price is $4.19 a quart. 1 quart is about 2lbs. So I get $1.25 per lb. While the industrial dairy farmer is only getting 12 cents. The industrial dairy farmer only gets 98 cents for the gallon of milk you bought at the store.
Local farmers who sell directly to the end consumer compete much less in the world economy than we do with other local farmers.
We also sell eggs. I only have 50 hens. I could easily sell the production of 500. As it sits now I have a waiting list for our eggs.
I have started to call family and friends. I am asking them to donate $25 for my Christmas gift. If we can all do this we will raise a bunch more money.
It is a consequence of Government
I am originally from Wisconsin which has a large dairy industry and lobby. The dairy industry was protected by government subsidies for decades. That is the reason why the price of cheese and milk are so high. As the good doctor has taught us when the government subsidizes an industry more participants come in for the free money and the competition wanes because there is no need to be competitive. So now we have oversupply and falling prices. As a matter of fact there are millions of pounds of cheese being kept in large warehouses for years at taxpayer expense. Why? Just dumping the cheese in a landfill would be cheaper. The politicians are slime and they of course don't want to have the citizen’s angry hearing that cheese is going into the landfill so they store it in freezers. One year they tried to give cheese to the poor but that turned out to be a problem, the dairy lobby said that would hurt their sales in the retail market. End all milk subsidies and let the market determine price and supply.
Roger Hermann
Chicago, IL
Roger Hermann
Chicago, IL
Why are the prices still high?
If the prices are dropping then why aren't we seeing that in the store?
No one else in the chain takes a cut except the farmer.
And since the milk at its freshest point is a very perishable, it has to e moved regardless of the price. Plus farmers only have so much storage. That's why it's so important to keep raw milk in the shadows and illegal for the most part.
one concerned farmer
Monoculture carries risks.
A disease, a downturn in demand, or a supply interruption (feed, fertilizer) can wreak havoc with your livelihood. In uncertain times it is far better to diversify so that if market/weather/demand bring failure to one element of your enterprise, there are others that will help tide you over.
Faced with an oversupply and negative earnings, dairy farmers can cut immediate losses by butchering milk cows. It's a high price for survival, rather like the coyote chewing off its foot to escape a leg-hold trap. A herd is a huge investment but it was the farmer's business decision, not ours. The taxpayer should not be on the hook to help out.
My Blog:
http://horizonscanblog.blogspot.com/
New Hampshire and Ecuador
Get a cow or get off dairy
I want a goat, but can only have one by city ordinance, and that is a cruel thing to do to a goat.
Truth exists, and it deserves to be cherished.
Get the goat a friend
Just like people can curb that lonely feeling with a pet, try a dog as a friend or a couple chickens. It's more about boredom than conversation in my mind.
one concerned farmer
Today
Went out and purchased a quart of Raw milk. It comes in a glass bottle. They wrapped it in a paper bag like a 40 of beer and away I went. I shook it up and poured. Said here goes nothing and took a sip.
Jesus Christ.....
Never again will I drink any of that white chemical liquid in those plastic gallon jugs after tasting the real deal. Its night and day.
More waking up. Who would have thought the rabbit hole would lead me to real whole food?
Forgive my ignorance
But I thought it was illegal. Then again, I guess it is easy enough to buy other illegal stuff in the USSA.
Where do you get it? Can I get some in MA?
No clue where in MA
But there's a few really really good organic dairies in NH that sell raw organic. Much like eating fresh from your garden veggies, fresh raw organic milk is nothing like it's mass produced counterpart.
Here's a good link for organic dairies in New England to get you started.
http://www.organicvalley.coop/
They can't ship it
Across state lines.
Federal law mandates that raw milk in final package form intended for human consumption cannot be transported across state lines. To do so would constitute a violation of federal law CFR 1240.61. An Affidavit is required under an agreement with the FDA.
I get mine in from a market in town that ships the stuff in from a town a little south of me.
Its not fresh from the cows teat but its the closest thing we have out here in Sacramento.
http://www.organicpastures.com/index.html
Michael Heres Where To Get Milk In MA...
Heres a couple of pretty extensive lists where you can buy from....
.
Farms
http://www.nofamass.org/programs/organicdairy/consumers.php
http://www.realmilk.com/where3.html#ma
http://www.ronpaulsingles.com/
Paper Ballots Hand Counted At The Precinct Or Bust
Support WTP Federal Supreme Court Case To Ban All Electronic Voting Or Forget 2010 or 2012
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/UPDATE/Update2009-05-11...
http://www.dailypaul.com/152976/diebold-vs-paper-ballots
http://www.ncel.w4sp.com/
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
http://www.votefraud.org/
http://www.hulu.com/hacking-democracy
Thank you! And I can get
Thank you!
And I can get fresh milk on Ron Paul Singles, too?
Sweet Isn't It SSgT_AF ?
I lived on a working organic farm from 1985-90 Milking the cows was part of the job. They were grass fed and a gallon wide mouth jar would have about an inch and a half of cream on it. Used to just spoon it off and eat it but there was nothing like ice cream made with it with fresh mashed up wild blackberries all over the top of it....
http://www.ronpaulsingles.com/
Paper Ballots Hand Counted At The Precinct Or Bust
Support WTP Federal Supreme Court Case To Ban All Electronic Voting Or Forget 2010 or 2012
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/UPDATE/Update2009-05-11...
http://www.dailypaul.com/152976/diebold-vs-paper-ballots
http://www.ncel.w4sp.com/
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
http://www.votefraud.org/
http://www.hulu.com/hacking-democracy
Is it ever
No wonder there trying to make a total ban on it.
Plus it has a stronger consistency. Not like white chemical water but like..well..milk.
Meanwhile in PA...
The price of a gallon of milk is now $3.38 thanks to price controls, and the state government agreed to yet another "temporary" minimum price INCREASE. I was paying $3.16 last year when the dairy prices were much higher.
What you have here are the
What you have here are the large farm corps trying to run the small to medium privately owned farmers out of business....
A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. Proverbs 22:3
A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. Proverbs 22:3
Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to
send peace on earth: I came not to send peace,
but a sword.
The Myth of "Free" Enterprise Economic System
Read this article and you will learn more about why this is happening.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article14621.html
Obviously, they simply need to use more Bovine Growth Hormone...
Cause if they double the output of the milk, then they'll make up the difference! (On paper).
Maybe offer Bosco with every gallon purchased. Or maybe develop an engine that runs on milk and it's only by-product is cheese.
Clearly, the cow it too big too fail.
I may not know the truth, but I know when I'm being lied to...
I may not know the truth, but I know when I'm being lied to...
Free trade agrrements
You said it. Globiliaztion. The problem with all our industry.
What a shame that not many see it.
Just chiming in with another thumbs up for raw milk
I can go through 3 gallons a week on my own, but then I am able to buy milk from an all Jersey herd that is totally grass fed (hay for a couple months in winter). It tastes completely different from raw milk I have had in northern California from a herd that is "traditionally raised," meaning a mixture of pasture and grains (reality check: ruminants cannot digest grains, although they will naturally take them when offered because grains are sweet). The California milk is much more costly, too.
Nothing satisfies hunger and thirst like real milk, so I, too, encourage anyone who has access to it to give it a try.
PBS interview with FOOD INC. director
http://video.pbs.org/video/1143263943/ (approx 20 min.)
I'm looking for the movie online, I haven't seen it yet.
The DP is proof that the grassroots support for Ron Paul and his peaceful message of individual liberty is large, real, and not going away!
It was a good movie.
Monsanto, Monsanto, Monsanto ... lol
Was a good watch, nothing groundbreaking if your in the know, but very well put together.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286537/
and it is out there on the torrents...
http://www.google.com/search?q=food+inc.+torrent&ie=utf-8&oe...
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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make
violent revolution inevitable."
John F. Kennedy
≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make
violent revolution inevitable."
John F. Kennedy
Thanks,
_I don't know how I'll eat again, that movie has me truly disturbed about how the animals are treated, the 'look' in their eye's is devastating.
I certainly won't be heading to any fast food for ammonia washed meat anytime soon either.
Watch if U dare!
____________________-
The DP is proof that the grassroots support for Ron Paul and his peaceful message of individual liberty is large, real, and not going away.
The DP is proof that the grassroots support for Ron Paul and his peaceful message of individual liberty is large, real, and not going away!
used to be a skim milk drinker
now, raw milk only. nothing like it. absolutely love the taste. and there is no lactose intolerance with raw milk. it is not legal to get in nc so we have to travel to sc and pay 6 bucks per gallon, It is well worth it. And if you think pasturized milk is so much safer than raw milk, consider this: raw milk can only contain about 5000 ppm of bacteria, while pasteurized is allowed to be 10000 ppm. Where we get our milk, I kid you not, the bacteria is 0ppm. they clean up after every milking. they test daily and the state inspects monthly. Which would you rather drink?
________________________________
the lesser of two evils is still evil
Don't worry about buying raw milk in a state where it isn't
For some reason, we're expected to know every law that exists in America & in our state so we don't break it. We're supposed to know this when we're 18. There's no litmus test for them, as in the 10 commandments or rhyme or reason. C.U.R.E.
legal, make a donation for it! If you think raw milk is justifiably illegal/ criminal, consider this:
raw eggs aren't illegal, neither is raw chicken, beef, fish, lamb, any other animal you want to think of
For some reason, your government has criminalize d what cows feed their calves, outrageous! To think that government employees crack down on this & no government employee has a vested interest in losing their job. You wonder why the criminalization of drugs continues, it's b/c no cop, no one involved in the Drug Industrial Complex of government employees has a vested interest in becoming unemployed. The private sector has no such luxury!
For some reason, we're expected to know every law that exists in America & in our state so we don't break it. We're supposed to know this when we're 18. There's no litmus test for them, as in the 10 commandments or rhyme or reason. C.U.R.E.
Government illusion-raw eggs are not safe
have you been in the grocery store and seen how many brands of pasturized eggs there are? Whou would really want to eat a dead egg?
one concerned farmer
They MUST reduce their production, or fail.
This is not a matter of whether or not people should be eating dairy as that is a decision for each person to make. This is a matter of simple supply and demand and the distortion of the pricing structure by subsidy and malinvestment. Just as other industries grew to unsustainable levels, so did the farmers from decades of subsidy and easy credit. They are now asking for us to subsidize them even more so that they can continue their artificially low prices. Have we not learned? Slaughter cows? Burn houses down? Plow crops under, yadda, yadda, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah. The entire world is "in crisis" with massively increasing centralization of power and what do people call for? More power, more inflation, more subsidy, more war, more welfare, more government. I think my sanity is slipping away as I watch the world destroy itself through it's various inflation machines and the majority sits around discussing whether or not people should eat dairy. It's none of anyone's business what we put in our mouths, if everyone supported and paid for their own health care, the costs for a reckless individual would fall solely on themselves. Instead the fat people create a group and lobby for Obese rights and subsidy. Ultimately we subsidize obesity. It all goes back to government and inflationism, we never, ever learn.
"In the capitalist society there is a place and bread for all. Its ability to expand provides sustenance for every worker. Permanent unemployment is not a feature of free capitalism." - Mises - www.mises.org
"Endless money forms the sinews of war." - Cicero, www.freedomshift.blogspot.com
City gulags, plantation racism, or small family farms.
The pilgrims just thought having dirt under their fingernails was all they needed.
Even if we all ate right, the superpreditor beast blind rhino is seeking resources, but we will feel more secure. Wholesome, locally grown.
The small family farmer, the true, one and only stewards of the lands.
Taste better anyway.
And never forget, “Humans, despite our artistic pretensions, our sophistication and many accomplishments, owe the fact of our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.”
Good thing the Indians were here
to show them they needed more than dirt under their nails to survive. ;))
WE ARE GOING TO WIN!
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