Support your local dairy farmer
Family dairy farmers listen to speakers during the rally in Manchester, Iowa Saturday, May 30
I had the pleasure of spending Saturday with nearly 200 people concerned about the future of small farm life. A vibrant dairy farmer in Iowa, Jerry Harvey, organized a “Dairy Farmers Rally for Fair Prices” in Manchester, Iowa. I learned of the event via Twitter and offered to help show my support by taking some photos of the event on behalf of Farm Aid.
Understanding the dairy farmer’s problem is difficult, and their message is both complicated to tell and confusing to most consumers. But to listen to the speakers, what is happening in dairy now is worse than at any other time in our history. Even more alarming is that dairy farms may be the first of many types of farms to fall under similar economic pressures.
At the end of the day, while a number of opinions and ideas were shared, there is consensus among the group present on actions which need to be taken now, and action which need to be explored for longer term solutions Those solutions are summed up on the Farm Aid blog:
- pressure for immediate action from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to set a temporary floor price for milk
- a sustained push for the best possible long-term federal legislation on dairy pricing;
- a renewed call for strict enforcement and expansion of anti-trust regulation to ensure that independent producers are no longer victimized by big dairy conglomerates, processors, and their cronies;
- direct cooperation between family farmers and consumers to ensure fair prices and high quality family farm products for everyone.
During the three hour event, most in the audience remained in their chairs set up in the livestock sale barn parking lot, listening to the speakers. Even local media, who often has a habit of doing a quick run-and-gun pick up of some video and an interviews, lingered longer that normal.
Rally organizer Jerry Harvey takes a call from Farm Aid President Willie Nelson during the rally
Most impressive was this was a grass roots led effort, not dominated by politicians or lobbyists, but dairy farmers from many states, working together to organize and tell their story.
In 2006, the USDA estimated nearly 70,000 dairy farms in the US, popular estimates quoted this year puts the number around 60,000. The average herd size is between 125 and 150 cows, but the majority of herds are smaller than 100 cows.
The Columbia Missourian reports 25 percent of Pennsylvania’s dairy farms may close:
“It’s an inequity that cries out for attention, consideration and action,” said Sen. Robert Casey, a Democrat from the dairy stronghold of Pennsylvania. Casey projects that 25 percent of his state’s 7,400 dairy farms could disappear because of the crisis.
To learn more see the USDA or Farm Aid’s Ask Hilde.
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