Dairy farming is dying. After 40 years, I'm done.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Outlook • Perspective

Dairy farming is dying. After 40 years, I’m done.

By Jim Goodman
Jim Goodman is an organic dairy farmer from Wonewoc, Wis.
December 21

After 40 years of dairy farming, I sold my herd of cows this summer. The herd had been in my family since 1904; I know all 45 cows by name. I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to take over our farm — who would? Dairy farming is little more than hard work and possible economic suicide.

A grass-based organic dairy farm bought my cows. I couldn’t watch them go. In June, I milked them for the last time, left the barn and let the truckers load them. A cop-out on my part? Perhaps, but being able to remember them as I last saw them, in my barn, chewing their cuds and waiting for pasture, is all I have left.

My retirement was mostly voluntary. Premature, but there is some solace in having a choice. Unlike many dairy farmers, I didn’t retire bankrupt. But for my wife and me, having to sell our herd was a sign — of the economic death not just of rural America but also of a way of life. It is nothing short of heartbreaking to walk through our barn and know that those stalls will remain empty. Knowing that our losses reflect the greater damage inflicted on entire regions is worse.
....

As devastating as the 1980s were for farmers, today’s crisis is worse. Ineffective government subsidies and insurance programs are worthless in the face of plummeting prices and oversupply (and tariffs certainly aren’t helping). The current glut of organic milk has caused a 30 percent decrease in the price I was paid for my milk over the past two years. The new farm bill, signed by President Trump on Thursday, provides modest relief for larger dairy farmers (it expands some subsidies, and farmers will be able to pay lower premiums to participate in a federal program that offers compensation when milk prices drop below a certain level), but farmers don’t want subsidies; all we ever asked for were fair prices. So for many, this is little more than another PR stunt, and the loss of family farms will continue. This year, Wisconsin, where I live, had lost 382 dairy farms by August; last year, the number at the same point was 283. The despair is palpable; suicide is a fact of life, though many farm suicides are listed as accidents.
....

Jim Goodman is an organic dairy farmer from Wonewoc, Wis.

[Bayard]

1. Big corporate farming wins

Family farmers should be the ones getting subsidies, not the Land-Of-Lakes types.

45 cows with names...... That's personal.

[dameatball]

6. 45 cows? How ironic.

[DRoseDARs]

9. How ignorant. Yes, 45 cows. Husband and wife, maybe some kids and farmhands. Yes, small family farm.

I'm not rural in the slightest and that comment bothered me. Good lord, man, get some perspective.

[Demobrat]

13. You DO know that

Trump is the 45th President - right? Right?

[DRoseDARs]

15. If that was what was meant then my bad, but this wouldn't be the first time I've seen people knock

small farms for having too much land or too many animals.

[dameatball]

17. Yes, the # 45 was indeed an indirect slam at Trump It was not intended to be judgemental.

I may have worded it clumsily or you may have misunderstood. The number of dairy cattle was entirely irrelevant to the fact that dairy farmers are not being helped under current policies. We have no argument as far as I am concerned.
Kudos to you for speaking up. Lots of stuff on DU gets misinterpreted and the only way to clarify is to ask or question it.

[DRoseDARs]

23. *hug*

[dameatball]

25. Back at ya.....:) Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Larrybanal]

21. your comment is all I see that is ignorant

[dameatball]

28. It's okay. Easy to misinterpret sometimes.

Let's just make sure we all vote. Every time. Because our opponents will.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

51. +1

And yet they (most farmers around here) vote gop and bolster Corporate America. I feel bad, but, they are only a few of the businesses they've sold down the river to vote blindly as per fox 'news'. Chickens have come home to roost. (I counted, 45 of them too.....for now.)

[Rorey]

29. My mom named all of our cows too

My parents were dairy farmers. Mom had a real attachment to all of our cows. It was very hard work, and it was almost impossible to take a vacation. Everything had to be scheduled around milking time. I'll bet my mom was heartbroken saying goodbye to the last of the cows.

[Bayard]

45. I used to have a pet Brahma steer

Cowster. He was great, and a gorgeous cinnamon color. Loved peppermints. The guy that worked on my tractor was appalled--how are you ever going to eat an animal that you've named? I said, the Cowboy (he went by many names), never has to worry about being eaten.

[demigoddess]

2. the 'business man' hurts businesses all over

[iluvtennis]

3. My heart goes out to this farmer. The greed of the corporate level farming killed his farm. That $5

Billion Trump wwants for a damn wall could be used to help famers like this, building up the infrastructure of airports, bridges, highways, better healthcare for Vets, kids, elders, etc, etc, etc.

[LakeArenal]

4. Wonewoc is right next door.

I know nothing of farming, but it seems the small farms are disappearing or falling down at an alarming rate.

The high impact irrigation definitely on the increase at an alarming rate.

[DENVERPOPS]

5. The first question I would ask

The very first question I would ask this guy is:

So who did you and all your farmer/rancher/dairy owning coharts vote for in the last election.

Don't bother answering, we already all know the answer.........

[handmade34]

10. no, you don't know the answer...

the man who wrote this essay is/was a small organic farmer... not your typical Trumpster and further reading seems to indicate that he is also not... most farmers I know around here are not Republicans (although, many are)... we need to not assume so many things

farming, especially dairy, is complicated... I used to milk cows and have seen many, many farmers go out... for a number of reasons

[SunSeeker]

16. "75 percent of rural voters in the Farm Belt cast their ballots for Trump"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/10/24/farmers-voted-heavily-for-trump-but-his-trade-policies-are-terrible-for-them/

[Dickster]

39. Some misconceptions about farmers...

First of all, most people that live in rural areas are not farmers. The number of actual farmers is at an all time low. Most of the people who live in rural areas work at other jobs.
Secondly, most of the time reporters need info about farming, they go to the Farm Bureau, who purport to be the largest farm organization in the country. But they like to count all of the people who buy their insurance as “farmers” when asked about numbers. An awful lot of non farmers buy insurance from them. They are by far the most conservative of the farm orgs, one hardly ever sees quotes or info from the Farmers Union in national media.
I think farmers in general are much more evenly divided, just like the rest of the country. And I pretty sure an awful lot of them, like me, are disgusted by the terrible Trump policies that have peeled $2.50 bucks off the price of soybeans. There is a huge amount of red ink this year due to a drop in yields and the lower price. There will be farmers who don’t get financing next year. It is extremely difficult to cash flow soybeans at this time of year when farmers are talking to bankers.

[uppityperson]

48. What an odd assumption, that organic farmers vote republican.

http://midwestadvocates.org/about/board/jim-goodman/

Mr. Goodman received his Bachelor of Science in Animal Science (Honors) from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and M.S. in Reproductive Physiology from South Dakota State University. Mr. Goodman and his wife run Northwood Farm, a 45-cow organic dairy and direct market beef farm in Wonewoc, Wisconsin. He frequently speaks and presents workshops on organic farming, direct marketing, local food, international trade and social justice issues. Mr. Goodman is also former Food and Society Policy Fellow and serves on the boards of Family Farm Defenders, Organic Consumers and the Center for Food Safety.

Jim joined Midwest Environmental Advocates' board in 2009.

[3Hotdogs]

7. First of all, I feel badly for dairy farmers.

Someone on D.U. posted an article about dairy farmers in Lancaster County, Pa., losing their market for raw milk. The market was a milk processor based in Texas. They said there was no longer an outlet for milk because people are buying less. That was in May of this year.

Mr. Goodman mentions oversupply and plummeting prices. Plummeting prices are a response to oversupply. That raises the question -- if there should be subsidies and farm insurance programs to support an industry that is no longer viable.

Same question for coal miners, electric cars (why are we, in effect, giving tax breaks to rich people who can afford a $75K Tesla? Or the same for flood insurance where we subsidize insurance for beach property that gets flooded time and again?

There is no way I can read Mr. Goodman's article and not feel badly for him. There needs to be better ways to provide for people whose way of life disappears.

[George II]

8. I would say "nice story", but it isn't really nice, it's just very well done....

....big farms are putting the little farmer out of business. And many of the bigger farms are being paid to not produce milk.

[Liberty Belle]

11. Big factory farms that are abusive to animals

are putting small farmers out of business not only in dairy but across the board.

I don't know the answer, but if there are to be subsidies the FIRST to get them should be small farmers who have been around for generations, and the last to get them should be the factory farms.

[StarryNite]

19. Many people don't realize how abusive the dairy business is.

"Since cows can only produce milk after giving birth, dairy farms have to constantly impregnate the cows. As a result, many baby calves are born. Since male calves will never make milk, they are essentially useless to a dairy farm. Some farms let the calves live for a few months in order to slaughter them for veal. Others don’t even bother and kill them when they are a few days old."

[link:https://www.kinderworld.org/videos/dairy-industry/shooting-baby-calves-dairy-horrors/?fbclid=IwAR1W-2SkXTMFs_Np4m0vjpIWq0rz-sLtHp_gCNcKmtT8onOhSLGhOSFt3jg|

[mucifer]

37. Yup

[Liberty Belle]

49. Has it always been so bad?

I wonder if on smaller family farms, they might simply wait until a calf is ready to be weaned, or perhaps wean it a bit early, and then switch the cow onto the milking machine while her udders are still producing plenty of milk.

I suspect it is greed and economies of scale that have led to these cruel practices.

[Mendocino]

12. Vegan "milk" sales are up,

regular dairy is down.

[customerserviceguy]

40. I hadn't thought of that

when I read the OP, but you're right. I was just looking in the milk section at the supermarket this evening, and the non-dairy "milks" take up almost as much space as the regular milk section. I would imagine that after switching from factory-farmed milk to organic, or lactose-free, or some other sort of specialized milk, it wouldn't be much of a change to go to plant-based milk substitutes.

The dairy farmer may becoming obsolete.

[Corvo Bianco]

52. The league of national milk producers

Has been pushing to ban the word milk from non-dairy beverages. It seems the consumer's preference for something else astounds them, and they could solve they whole problem if us silly customers weren't so confused about what we like to drink.

[SunSeeker]

14. Economies of scale spelled the end of family dairies long ago.

These farmers voted for right wing Republicans and now want to be exempted from the harsh effects of the laissez-faire capitalism those Republicans pursue. In essence, they are asking for welfare, but are the first ones to want to cut aid to the poor.

[trev]

18. "What's the Matter With Kansas?"

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1545606413&sr=1-1&keywords=what%27s+the matter+with+kansas

[SunSeeker]

27. What's your point? Lemme guess...

Based on the book you're citing, you think it's all Democrats' fault for not "talking more about money and class."

Sorry, but I think we lost rural whites when the Civil Rights Act passed, and suddenly talking about money and class meant money would be going to black and brown people. I think this problem of rural whites voting against their self interest is about racism.

[c-rational]

20. Relevant post - and I too am sadddened by the loss of small farms. A continuatiion of the

corporatization of America.

[sknabt]

22. My empathy is limited concerning dairy farmers

I know a dairy farmer who recently retired as well. So I'm well versed on the issues. While I'm empathetic to anyone suffering economic hardship, my sympathy gets stretched to the limit in the case of dairy farmers.

As long as I can remember - over 20 years - my dairy farmer friend has struggled financially. He largely lived off of government handouts. He got land tax subsidies suburbanites like myself would envy. He got subsidies on insurance. He got subsidies on licensing farm vehicles. I'm sure I'm forgetting many others he bragged about. That's before the government milk subsidies.

My friend, a rabid Trump voter rarely seen without his MAGA hat on, lectures supply and demand like most conservatives. Well, dude, that's what kept your wages around the poverty level for decades (his wife's job kept the family afloat). Farmers are producing more milk than there's demand for torpedoing prices.

Then farmers generally are Trump voters. What does Trump do to help them? Well, he starts a trade war with China. China's response is to raise tariffs on milk powder and skimmed milk powder a big U.S. dairy export. That's approximately a $200,000,000 dairy market flushed down the toilet.

According to farmer Goodman Trump is giving some small additional subsidy relief to larger farms. No surprise. Look at Trump's tax scam marketed as a middle class tax cut but, in reality, is nothing but a corporate gravy train.

What's the expression Republicans always spew? Oh, "Elections have consequences." Yep. Be careful who you vote for!

[PatrickforO]

31. Please let me be the first to call you on the carpet for what I think is

a tone-deaf post.

Jim has lost his farm. Like the loss of any family business, it is gut-wrenchingly painful.

Please just have the decency to wish him well - not go into policy. Everyone is an armchair policy wonk, I'll give you that - I certainly am. But in this case, please leave it be.

[3Hotdogs]

44. Jim ain't reading our posts.

His story is linked from the Washington Post. I would bet a Starbucks coffee that Jim also has a M.A.G.A. hat somewhere in his house.

[Horse with no Name]

32. totally relevant post

I grew up in the dairy industry and the progressives in dairy farming are as scarce as tits on a bull.

[Horse with no Name]

24. We had our dairy in the 70's and 80's

and why my parents hate Reagan to this day.

[a kennedy]

26. And organic farming??? We knew what was fed to the cows....

ya NEVER KNOW WHAT’S BEING FED TO THEM NOW.

[Eko]

55. What was?

What was fed to the cows since you know?

[PatrickforO]

30. If you are Jim Goodman, I'm so very sorry for the loss of your dairy farm.

The pain in having to let it go must be terrible.

Please accept my sincere hope you land on your feet, in as far as that is possible in this era, and that you have enough throughout your retirement. May you and your family be blessed.

[Miigwech]

33. Seen all over the world

... big business puts it's foot on the necks of the working man/woman. Why don't these farmers start a Coop ... band together, they will never survive alone. Sad.

[Kaleva]

43. The vast majority of large farms are family owned

"Even big farms are usually family-owned. Of farms with gross annual sales of $1 million or more, 94 percent are family farms. "

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/even-mega-farms-are-mostly-family-owned/

[Wellstone ruled]

34. To make the Goodman

story even worse is this,his Cows were sold at Auction,and those 45 cows as well as his replacement Heifers and Calf's did not leave the system. They were most likely bought at rock bottom prices by the largest Dairy in his neighborhood,making the rest of the industry stressed that much more.

It is after-all,all about getting top price at Auction. Rather than what the Slaughter House was paying for Hamburger Cows.

White Wave Foods is now the big kid on the block. And they control the fluid Milk price. Believe there is only one Organic Dairy co-op left in Wisconsin.

[JDC]

35. Dairy Farmins seems to be growing in NM

I travel in NM a lot and I see tons of dairy farms there. The folks I know there say many Wisc Dairy farmers are moving their cows there. Labor and more sunshine.

I have no real data to back this up, but I can say I see more farms every time I travel there.

[berni_mccoy]

36. I grew up working on neighboring dairy farms as a kid.

From the time I was 10 until the time I graduated high school, I bailed hay, chopped wood, shovelled shit and did all the other unpleasant stuff that is required on a farm. But it was fun too. My best friend growing up was a kid on a dairy farm. And we had many adventures together. Most of the farms, including his parent’s, paid minimum wage, which at the time was around $3 / hr.

We climbed trees, teased the bull (and got treed by it once for many many hours) and during long summer nights stayed up way too long playing D&D and other role playing games with his brother and neighboring farm kids. During the winter, we had the best view of the night sky. It inspired us (along with Carl Sagan’s Cosmos) to go into the fields we are in today.

I was fit and strong because of it. And because I was physically spent, it allowed my friend and I to be intellectually sharp. We both graduated as valedictorians of our class.

Farming, as a way of life, is important to our society. To see this type of change happening is heart breaking.

[defacto7]

38. A way of life... I grew up on my uncle's dairy farms as a child.

Spent many summers on those farms. Up at 3:30, milking, breakfast at 8, on the field at 9, afternoon milking, dinner at 6, bed at 9. Seven days a week.

[Kaleva]

41. Large family farms produce about 66% of dairy products. Small family farms can't compete.

"USDA: 97 percent of U.S. farms are family-owned"

"Large family farming operations, which NASS defines as having annual GCFI of $1 million or more, account for just three percent of family farms. They produce, however, 64 percent of vegetable sales, 66 percent of dairy sales and high percentages of most other agricultural commodities."

https://www.drovers.com/article/usda-97-percent-us-farms-are-family-owned

"Even Mega-Farms Are Mostly Family Owned "

"Even big farms are usually family-owned. Of farms with gross annual sales of $1 million or more, 94 percent are family farms. Of farms with 10,000 acres or more, 86 percent are family businesses. Nor is this a situation where a tiny fraction of non-family farms own most of the land or produce an outsized portion of our food. For both stats, non-family farms represent less than 10 percent of the total. What’s more, the balance of power between corporate and family farms hasn’t changed much during the decades when farms got more and more massive."

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/even-mega-farms-are-mostly-family-owned/

[MadDAsHell]

42. "Fair prices" is really a false term in capitalism.

There is no "fair.". There is simply that customers will pay.

And the push to organic has, not surprisingly, increased the organic supply. Which, not surprisingly, lowers prices.

We'll see the same thing with solar and other renewables. Preach the green gospel, but don't complain when it becomes less profitable. That's how supply and demand works.

[dembotoz]

46. As Walmart took out main Street big farms take out small farms

Hard to believe a small independent anything

[calimary]

47. Really appreciate this perspective, which we don't often get.

Thank you for posting this. Most informative.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

50. So what organic milk should I buy - I believe in voting with my $$$. Im in Madison now and had no

idea its this bad. Is there anything still adhering to strict organic standards? Is Organic Valley? thx for article OP - we need to know this.

[MoonchildCA]

54. This website is a great source.

They rate farms with the most humane practices, and list their marketing areas as well—some are nationwide.

Organic Milk Scorecard

They have one for eggs as well.

[Hoyt]

53. A shame. Spent lot of wonderful times on grandparents small dairy farm in 1950/60s, outhouse and all

But it was tough on them. Granddad delivered mail, etc., to make ends meet.

This is not really new. Not sure what answer is, but the masses want low prices because they are having a tough time too.