During these stressful times, remember there is always someone worse off than yourself. And while I wrote this about a dairy farmer during COVID19, now the meat industry could be affected as well, without processing plants or distribution for their own commodities.
Unless you have knowledge about the farming industry, you have no idea how much time and money goes into growing and making the food you buy to put on your table.
The dairy farmer milks his cows and thinks about the costs that went into getting that pail of milk.
He had to buy the land, build the barn, construct the fences. Then pay dearly for the tractor and all the equipment.
Each spring, that tractor and plow turn over the soil, working the land to get ready to plant. He paid for the timothy, alfalfa, and corn seed required to plant the crops. He paid for the fertilizer. Then he prayed for rain, but not too much, so the seed would grow.
In the summer he watched the skies for sun, for several days in a row without rain, so the hay could get in. He worked those 3 or 4 days in a row to mow, ted, rake and bale the dry grasses that turn into hay for the winter feeding. He paid for the baling twine, and the fuel for the tractor, and fixed the equipment himself when it broke down. And did it all again in the fall to bring in the corn to fill the silos with silage. He paid the hired hands all this time too.
He mended the fences when needed, buying new wire, and staples and posts to keep the cows safe.
He paid for a new well pump when that went, and a new gate for the barnyard. He paid the utilities.
Each day a myriad of tasks to be done, none of which brought in any money.
And now, summer almost over, most of the cows are dry, giving no milk.
Nine and half months ago he paid for the semen, and the artificial insemination technician to come breed the cows. He’s fed and cared for the cattle all this time. Milk will come with the calves being born. He hopes for females that will grow to replace the old, least productive cows. Bulls will mean a failed breeding, that produces no milkers. He’ll have to try it again next year.
Each cow is now watched, waiting for the calf to arrive. And hoping that the cow doesn’t go down with milk fever, rendering her paralyzed on the ground, and requiring multiple vet visits, more money spent. He prays the calf will be alive, healthy, and strong. After the colostrum is used to feed the calf, finally some good milk. He milks each cow hoping no mastitis infects her udder, making the milk useless for sale.
He pays for the grain that helps feed the cows after they calve, which helps them give more milk. Twice a day, every day, the cows are milked.
As more cows calve, he watches the level of milk rise in the tank; he measures it every day. He’s paid his financial share to the milk co-op, who take the milk from the farm to process it and sell it to market.
Now, finally, there will be a paycheck – the milk provides the money for everything on the farm.
This was my father, and the way I grew up. Sad to say, my father earned more for his milk in the 1960’s and 70’s, someplace around $18-20 per hundred weight, than dairy farmers today in 2020. There’s about 11.5 gallons of milk in 100 pounds. At $20 per hundred weight he earned $2.30 per gallon. Farmers today make maybe half that. Is it any wonder that a dairy farmer, or almost any small farmer, can make a go of it now? It’s costing more money to keep a cow than can ever be recovered from the price of milk.
Worse yet, now with COVID-19, the whole distribution process is interrupted. Milk isn’t needed in the schools and cafeterias because kids aren’t in school; restaurants are closed, not needing milk and cream or cheese. Social distancing has left the processing and distribution chains in chaos, since workers can’t be in close proximity.
Milk is a perishable commodity – it can only be stored so long, not like grain in a silo, or frozen foods. Even butter and cheese processing plants are not producing up to capacity, and therefore not needing as much milk. Stores have started limiting sales so that fear doesn’t deplete the shelves as fast as they could be filled, so everyone gets some form of milk….but not like before COVID-19.
Today, somewhere, a farmer now may have to dump his milk – literally watching it go down the drain, along with all the time, effort and money put in all year to be able to milk that cow. He may recoup some money from the milk cooperative, but ultimately even the co-op will suffer the losses and pass it back to the farmer in the future.
If this had been my father, I would have seen glistening eyes and probably a tear down the stoic face. The grief would be beyond words. And yet he’d go back at it, and work just as hard, because that’s who he was.
He was a farmer.