Dean foods files for bankruptcy

farmerjan

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The whole thing with Dean foods has sent some more dairies into a tail spin. Part of the problem was when Walmart built their own huge processing plant, then contracted with a few dairies to supply it so that they did not have to go through the "middleman" of Dean foods. As much as I do not like the mega-milk co-operatives, they (Dean) still were picking up from the smaller farms. And don't get me started on our sec of ag, Sonny Perdue. Did anyone hear his comments at the national dairy conf about how there would be smaller dairies going out of business and that was basically "collateral damage".... that the way in the future was get bigger or get out. Anyone on here remember the whole fiasco with Earl Butz and the plant "fencerow to fencerow" of the 70's ????? He helped to make a mess of the agriculture in the US and started us on the path to destruction of our balance with nature. I am not such a fanatic that I don't think that there is a place for some "modern ag".. Tractors really are an improvement over horse power in some ways, and allow OLDER farmers to continue on with stuff that they could not due to physical strength and limitations alone. GPS and all the modern technologies do allow farmers to be more precise with planting, fertilizing, analysing their field conditions. Way beyond me in many ways.
But most on here are here because we do believe in being more self reliant, trying to keep alive the "old ways" of doing some things because GOD FORBID, if we have a world wide crisis, we might be the only ones left that will be able to provide for the ones in our own circle, neighborhood, family.

I am not as self-sufficient as some on here. I do not make my own cheese, or other things from my own cows milk. Some of it is due to being more busy than I want with our farming enterprise that my son & I have. But as I get older, and get to retirement, there are more things that I want to get back to. Still being involved in the commercial dairy industry, I see what is happening and it is a sad thing. The smaller farmers are getting out. Most are aging out. The commercial dairy cattle (namely Holsteins) have an average life of 2 lactations. There is no emphasis put on the bloodlines like all the smaller farmers would do, breeding their cattle for ALL AROUND traits. Things like sexed semen have made buying a replacement heifer more economical than raising up your own, because there are so many of them. The "other breeds" are not "important" to most commercial farmers. Yes , there is movement for the "better milk" A2 which has shown to be more digestible and to be better for people to drink. Believe it or not many holsteins were A2 way back when before they wanted quantity over quality.... the only reason Jerseys have realized such a comeback was they had not been ruined by trying to make them such milk wagons while losing all their other traits. Guernseys were pretty much destroyed and I seriously don't know if there will ever be a resurgence. The bloodlines today are so "bred up" from the old style guernsey that they are not of the same type anymore. They are much less hardy now, have more breeding problems than you can imagine. Don't produce enough milk to make them competitive or even practical to feed. They are my favorite breed, and I have a hard time justifying trying to keep it alive.

I could go on and on. I have lost 8 herds to being sold out in the last 2 years. I am a milk tester, 29 yrs, and have seen a decline that has never happened except maybe in the great depression. Va alone lost 12 farms in September this year. We are not nearly the size of Wisconsin, Minn and other "dairy states".
One thing I can say, is that the youth of today are smart to not want to be tied down to a dairy because of the total commitment to it. Because the families are smaller, there are not other members to "spread the work around to". A farm of 50 cows cannot support more than one family and can't do that very well, unless they have no debt. There is so much else going on that most do not want to have to be tied to 2x a day milking, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The only way is for them to get bigger, with hired help, so that they can get a little time off. And to do that now, you have to get big, 500 cows or more.....

I am also a big milk drinker. I refuse to drink low fat milk. The poster above that talked about low fat and skim milk is right. You do not get the benefit of the milk's nutrients out of skim milk. The fat helps the body utilize the fat soluble vitamins and minerals. Also, NON-HOMOGENIZED milk's fat globules are larger, and will not permeate the walls of the intestines like homogenized milk. Therefore, the fat doesn't get into the body in places that it can't be utilized. The only way to drink milk is "creamline" or non-homogenized....

Remember when eggs were bad for you...yet the cholesterol in the yolks is perfectly balanced by the whites and one should not be eaten without the other...... and MARGARINE was supposed to be so much better than real butter..... only NO it is not better for you.....
 
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Mini Horses

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I drink it raw -- but, goats milk. Would love a cow but, just can't justify one or the milk she gives. Sad but, true. I could "share" with a calf but, there's the feed bill. Gotta stay with my goats -- and it's really good milk!!

It is sad to see the dairies driven out. I totally agree about the cow and their being bred out of all traits -- same with chickens, no broody, no life, short term layers.

Do you happen to remember the Large dairy here in VA Beach? All golden guernseys. Prize winners, too. I believe they went out maybe late 60's --?? Think it was Bergy's Dairy. They delivered to your door with glass bottles. You were a young one but, may have heard of them through the milk producers and the diaries with such cows.
 

farmerjan

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I was still in Ct at that time so no don't remember that farm. There used to be one here in the H'burg area that was all guernsey but they sold out years ago too. I bought 2 guernseys off a dairy that sold out in the 80's here above Churchville, and they gave more milk than you could imagine. I was making butter and selling it to the people I worked with when I was waitressing, fed hogs, bottle calves and all that. They were "cull cows" at that sale, and never could get either of them bred back, but they were worth the money and both wound up bringing what I paid about a year and a half later as cull cows. The one was bred when I got her the other open. The bred one had a bull calf, but she would raise any calf you gave her. She usually had 4 or 5 at a time nursing her, must've raised at least 10 or more. Called her "patience", the other I called "Belle" because she had a brass number tag around her neck and it would ring like a bell when it hit the little metal holder.

I do remember as a kid my grandparents getting milk delivered in the qt glass bottles and it having the cream on top that us kids would sneak down and stick our fingers in and get to lick off cuz it was so thick and creamy.... my grandfather "POP" would bellow, where was his cream for his coffee.... we'd all look so innocent.
 

Hinotori

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I drink it raw -- but, goats milk. Would love a cow but, just can't justify one or the milk she gives. Sad but, true. I could "share" with a calf but, there's the feed bill. Gotta stay with my goats -- and it's really good milk!!

It is sad to see the dairies driven out. I totally agree about the cow and their being bred out of all traits -- same with chickens, no broody, no life, short term layers.

Do you happen to remember the Large dairy here in VA Beach? All golden guernseys. Prize winners, too. I believe they went out maybe late 60's --?? Think it was Bergy's Dairy. They delivered to your door with glass bottles. You were a young one but, may have heard of them through the milk producers and the diaries with such cows.

It was Bergy's Dairy. They went out of business in the early 2000s. That fire that burned the VA Beach Farmer's Market was the last straw. We used to buy from their store there.

I still have a few bottles from them.
 

Mini Horses

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milk delivered in the qt glass bottles and it having the cream on top that

Yes !!!


It was Bergy's Dairy. They went out of business in the early 2000s. That fire that burned the VA Beach Farmer's Market was the last straw.

They had cut back some and kept many cows at a Chesapeake farm. But the store on Shore Drive was there a long time, as well as the lovely farm home where they still kept a few head. Then, they ran a little "rent a spot" garden area behind the little shop. They used to have farm tours for the school kids at the Va Beach farm. You saw the cows, got to see them milk one and all the info about a diary, etc. Ice cream was the "top off". LOL Such nice memories. As an adult, I lived about 4 miles from that little store, over by the Lesner Bridge. Thanks for the dates.....just couldn't remember but, thought late 60's to mid 70's.

Been a while! LOL


ETA: That Farmer's market is huge now....and homes EVERYWHERE! Princess Anne Park is across the street & was expanded to accommodate all manner of activities. Used to be farm land.
 
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flowerbug

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i grew up kitty corner from a small dairy and spent some time there, my older brothers helped him out at times. i wasn't old enough but i liked visiting. it is still there as a farm of some kind, but not a dairy.
 

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