America's Dairyland at the Crossroads (Documentary)

[@SulaimnSmnwg.T-cg1ow]

My highest respect goes to dairy farmers and dairy entrepreneurs for your hard work that feeds many souls and the world. We hope that businesses affected by the crisis during the Covid19 pandemic and during the current crisis can recover and grow even more. My prayer that God will make a way where there seems to be no way anymore. Gbu all

[@EarthSurferUSA]

I notice, that when there is overbearing government control over any industry that free people built in the first place, we tend top just let it happen with no protest,---and pray more. Did God give us a brain that can figure out reality for nothing? Son---we now live under a dictatorship. The only growth, (false growth), we will see economically from here is from short term government subsidies, which also eliminates craftier competition that can do a better job. If you would try to figure out reality, you would not depend on good feeling platitudes that we were taught (as nice), that are nothing but hot air.

[@rickboer7715]

i'M GLAD THAT YOU still HAVE AERIAL FARM PHOTOS FOR YOUR MEMORIES

[@LedgemereHeritageFarm]

We had a dairy until 2012. The land and equipment had long since been paid off, but there was no local infrastructure anymore and nobody wants to work on a farm during the summer anymore. There were at least 40 dairies in my county when I was a kid and there’s not even 5 now.

[@skyboy1956]

It was a good run. Time to move on, plenty of alternatives.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

Rural Freesoil Michigan, (Stakanis, sp, farms). A local farmer of generations just fired much of his local staff (some were retiring age I imagine), to take advantage of Governor gretchen whitmore's offer to pay $500.00 a week to house each of the many illegal aliens (with no vetting), to replace the guys own neighbors. Willie has been so beat up by these regulations (now switching from dairy to beef also, and has not produced a thing in months during this transformation to date), that he will follow any communistic policy that offers him money. In any industry,---he is not alone.

[@firstnamelastname4494]

Capitalism in action

[@bradlansing3744]

I grew up in Wisconsin, and my Dad's family were farmers. I had Uncle, who was a Dairy farmer he had about 100 head of Dairy cows. He was very smart he devsivfied. He had a beef farm and produced veal for years. He was always thinking outside the box on how to make money and still be a productive farmer. He also had a cheese factory at one time had a cheese factory, but closed do to the changing times. I would have to say that the small Wisconsin dairy farmer has a lot of challenges on how to produce quality dairy products and make a living.

[@skyboy1956]

Veal comes from dairy farms. When a male calf is born, it is of no use to a dairy farmer. They are taken away from their mother so they won't consume her milk. Most are fed various fake milks and grain for a few weeks, then slaughtered to make hotdogs or processed meat. They are to unhealthy to live much longer due to poor nutrients. About 20% are raised on their mothers milk then fed grains, after 2-16 weeks slaughtered for veal. That's where veal comes from.

[@walterscott7227]

I can’t watch anymore of this, it’s just tearing up. I farmed from 1945 to 1957 when I went into the service then from 1963 till 2015. We could no longer pay our bills and were forced to sellout. It still hurts to watch shows like this.

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

I wouldn't mind paying a little more for dairy products if i knew it was going to the farmer. The middle man , and retail. ( especially retail ) are the ones profiting.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

We would be paying less, much much less, for better product, if we did not let the government tell us what to produce and sell. If we did not let communist steal our free ente4rprise, and good court system, from us.

[@krissyb1980]

I figure if these big factory style farmers that milk around the clock were outlawed for being a public health and environmental risk you would see a bunch of these small farms dotted around the country spring back to life. Wouldn't that be beautiful? The only thing stopping it is money in politics.

[@screwplanplaybook7121]

Buy local and support your Farmers and Ranchers.

[@margaloone7970]

I am so sorry for your loss. However I think the loss of a small family farm is a loss for all of us.

[@johnthelesserofthethirdoft863]

We are paying much higher for cheese and dairy items, are the diary farms making the money they need? Or are the corporations that buy the milk keeping the profits and refusing to negotiate better prices?

[@goodgod77]

middle man takes the cream

[@LtColDaddy71]

1st let me say, this is heartbreaking. If it’s ok, I’d like to give my perspective. I’ve been a dairyman, farmer and rancher since 2001. It’s not imperative that I be particularly good at any of them, it is important that I take advantage of the overlapping of all of them. I only milk a girl 3 months out of the year. She spends 6 months nurturing her calf, and 3 months dry. The dairy portion of our operation involves embryo transfer of world class beef genetics, in to world class milk dams. Dairy is just a way to get SOME cash flow from my breeding dams, instead of having a bunch of mama’s eating my grass and giving me a calf. I get the calf (most of the time) and a little cash flow. Then there is the grain farming. My livestock are my fertility. I don’t buy anything in. The key to making money is to not have anything in (invested) a crop. Infrastructure is another killer. I took advantage of some programs to put up barns several times. Aside from an area for milking and processing, they never had a cow in them. As I was able, I converted them to other uses. I don’t like equipment or firing up an engine. It all costs money. I do it as little as possible. I put sheep out with my cattle, goats and pigs in my timber, and roll prairie schooners full of poultry across every acre. It involves working sun up, to sun down, 365 days per year. But an interesting thing happened. I “got” big, and did it fast. As a kid, I watched the 80’s happen, and it hardened me and made me determined to do it, and do it on my terms. If I can’t get what I want for a crop, I WONT GROW IT! We’re on the organic side, which brings 40-60% more revenue, and in our case, our yields drag about 15% over all. It’s not a bad deal, because of our methodology, we have next to nothing invested in a crop, excluding the value of the land. We have a set minimum we want to make, and won’t do it if we can’t make it. Which means we have many more crops that we can grow well, compared to a conventional operation. Whatever we can contract, we do, the rest is for cow chow. The government, banks, ag academia, the Merc, and Wall Street ruined farming. Pack up your toys, and find some real friends to play with. You can’t win with them. 9 out of 10 of the very farmers you love and respect, will not respect you. You are that “guy/gal.”

[@EarthSurferUSA]

I love reading from guys with experience in an industry, if they are old/smart enough to understand how we used to do it for a comparison. But one line you said, hit it out of the park: "I don’t like equipment or firing up an engine. It all costs money. I do it as little as possible." That was the machinery that made more production, and wealth generation possible. What you are actually complaining about (and trying to find a way around it being as free with your choices as possible.), is communism taking over our industries, and telling us what to produce or sell. The answer? Demand our individual liberty protected by law back, and our free enterprise system back (with a speedy and fair court system again that protects our individual lbierty. Anything else is legal lawlessness), that us free people created in the first place. Both our liberty and our free enterprise, was given to communism (who does not believe in either) by our federal government. Looks like McCarthy was right.

[@rickboer7715]

Support your local farms

[@bouji_]

One of my buddies told me once, "if you aren't milking 8k cows, you may as well just get out of the way."

[@markvanderknoop131]

Lely has compleet system from fresh grass to the milk storage. Then you can a run 60 or 120 cow hurd by 1 man.

[@CelestialBow]

You get the politician to speak and her words just seem so empty. To think of these farmers dealing with such a hard job with so little support from society that just buys their products for cheap its really horrible how we've designed this economic system. Making food and animals into a commodity to trade but its a living thing - the cows the grass the people etc - make them into dollar figures it just causes so much disrespect across the board. And trying to push massive CAFO dairies, which will support far less jobs, far less livings, bring less money into the community, so a handful of wealthy land owners and businesses can be alone owning their thousands of acres with everyone else having to go to the city to work a job far from the realities of food and life? What is this?

[@skyboy1956]

facism at it's finest ! !

[@davidevans474]

Politicians don’t work for the people or farmers . They work for big corporations and do what they want to most politicians don’t even live in the state they are supposed to be representing and we don’t really know how much work they really do in a day .😊

[@tapertim]

When we were milking cows in western South Dakota in the 70s there were 110 grade a producer’s and quite a few b producers by 2005 only one left now they are done

[@rodhonco5681]

The answer to higher milk prices to the Farmer is Supply! The struggle is getting Farmers to agree COLLECTIVELY to reduce Supply. Make that happen and limit imports and Farms can survive!

[@oddstuff123]

Really weird the way they keep saying "hispanic labor" like it's a dirty word, why does the ethnicity of the people in our communities even matter in the discussion of their employment? Seems like the real problem nobody wants to talk about is that "hispanic" by and large means "underpaid"

[@aubreymontgomery2647]

Because a lot of them are not even US citizens and are illegal…

[@skyboy1956]

@5:50, this kid struggles with supply and demand. If there is no demand, supply swells and price decreases. If it decreases to the point it is not profitable to produce milk, farms will shutter, which has been happening for a few years now. Since dairy is linked to so many health concerns in humans why would I buy dairy products?

[@Gems-of-Hope-Rocks]

47:50 Introduction of the Robotic Milkers

[@robertsevert]

Now you realize how bad solar windmill's are so bad😂

[@2khoso]

❤❤❤

[@fgonzalez78959]

Farming is expensive period. Alot of people love beef and milk and dont realize what it takes ..

[@EarthSurferUSA]

The 1st communistic propaganda in the film at min 2:45: "Everything is always evolving, (by what means?), so you can't be afraid of CHANGE. And then you are going to change, always have, always will, (still no defining the means or premise of change). Notice, they never define the components that create change. Are the components such as they were in the past USA, when the most advancements were made, when the people competing in the industry competed freely, and gladly accepting change that made them more productive and improve quality with those new advancements that we created with the more free industrial resolution? Or is this undefined CHANGE forced by dysfunctional government rule over our lives? It depends on if we accept the communistic rule over our lives,---like this man did? Which is the reason why our industries in demand, are failing. This man accepted government force over our lives. And I did not expect anything different form the media today. Just 3 min in the vid. I will let you find the rest of the propaganda. You need the practice, or we lose everything we built as a more free people to these dysfunctional dictators. I just took the "candy coating", (and this meaningless guys quote) off the subject, that's all.

[@mikedee-oq1ir]

future contracts why and why not

[@dvojkan]

Is anybody asked - who should dictate the future of these and other people? Do these small farmers have any power in making and forming their future, or the only thing they could do is to adapt to the environment which is created by bigger players\goverment or some other 3rd party force?

[@mikedee-oq1ir]

8000 cows 13000 acres seems excessive

[@CelestialBow]

The idea that the technology will attract young people is ridiculous. Maybe if they never have to be near see or smell the cows and their manure piles. As a young person, while I have a lot of respect for the larger operations, I would never want to work for one. I have worked for rotational grazed grass based dairies, this gets you out on the field enjoying the smells and sights. I would not want to be stuck in a bard with hundreds of massive Holsteins that are chowing down on their feed mix and feeding their calves in hutches. The robotic future, and these large farms, they make for less people, less camaraderie, even less youth will stay until these places are just robot run ghost town dairies? What kind of future is that?

[@skyboy1956]

Hopefully there will be no dairies in the future. Nothing in dairy is required to sustain human life.

[@WP_3rd]

Tragic.

[@thekibby8375]

Tammy Baldwin, another empty suit

[@edyann]

Plant based milks are very popular now, thank goodness. And way more delicious.

[@michaelwalsh9145]

Cows milk is plant based ya clown, BTW you can’t milk plants.

[@awtractor9924]

"Plant based' milk is not real milk, its milk substitute! What fantasy world are you living in?

[@zeramina]

Thank goodness!

[@edyann]

@@zeramina Right? Been drinking organic soy, rice and almond milk since 1990! And now we have coconut, macadamia, etc. Makes me so, so happy! I totally get the hate. :) Have a great rest of your weekend!

[@TheJdeere4020]

plant milk isn't real milk, it's poison

[@JadedLady]

my aunt and her husband has a farm and are always fussing about not having money or not making enough, yet they have a 5 bedroom house (they own), multi cars and trucks ( both have newer car and truck plus they old ones and "farm trucks), all of the farm equipment ( several are a million dollars or more per piece). They will not come to any family event I am at because I always tell them to go cry some where else, I don't want to hear anymore about how they cant make enough money off of the food they sell. They've made millions of their farm and yet it still isn't enough.

[@goodgod77]

what piece of farm equipment is worth more than a million. Are you mixing up turnover with profit

[@vernmello7691]

What a lousy story. No real information

[@jurmainmarsam2788]

llp

[@kristinnicholson674]

Alternative milk is where it’s at. Don’t support animal cruelty

[@MichaelMoher]

Farmers are doing all the work and taking most , if not all the risks, and it's the middleman that is raking in all the profits, nothing new there. Something has to be done on the governmental level to correct this problem, a problem that will not correct itself.

[@PartyCrewCoolPAD]

Greetings and Salutations I said "Vacation to dairyland " With 2 teenagers??? C'mon!!! 🥹✌️