Thursday, April 12, 2007
Local Farmers
The article in today’s Boston Globe"Summer dairy prices headed up" www.boston.com/business was to say the least frustrating. I believe a little more homework on the subject would have made the article more balanced. The statement is true that the dairy farmers are asking for more money. It is not because they are greedy. Maybe they should have asked H.P. Hood for their profit margins for comparison. Maybe they should have referred to the 4/1/07 article in their Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/04/01/bealeaguered_farmers_ask_for_a_boost_in_milk_prices/ it might shed some light on the subject. If that is not enough here are three more articles from the last two months about dairy farmers and the costs they are incurring http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/117402960523480.xml&coll=1 or
http://www.masslive.com/editorials/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1174723749237840.xml&coll=1 or
http://www.massdairyfarmers.com/march82007.html
These are recent articles but if you went back to the 1970’s you would find that the farmers and not being paid much more now then they were back then. While the farmers incur most of the costs and responsibility for our lands and animals the question remains who is really making the profits? There were 812 dairy farms in Massachusetts in the early 90’s now there are less then 182. Where will we get our milk, cheese, yogurt, whey? We will ship it in from other states. Is that really what we want? The cost of running a business in Massachusetts has increased every year and yet the prices paid to the local dairy farmer has not. Dairy farmers in Massachusetts are important. They are the keepers of our open spaces. They are the curators of the beauty that brings so many to our states. Imagine all of our dairy farms gone and in their place condos. Would you go on a scenic drive to look at rows of condos? Our farmers commit their lives to this. It is not a job. It is not 9-5. It is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Guess what, the cows still need to eat and be milked on Christmas, Yom kipper and all the other holidays. How easy do you think it is for a farmer to go on vacation? This is a way of life. It is who they are. Every day millions of people put cream in there coffee, milk in there cereal, give yogurt to there children and yes lets not forget about the billions of gallon of ice cream consumed everyday. While our local farmers are going out of business because they can not pay the price any longer could you ask Mr. Mike Suever, Senior Vice President of Milk Procurement at Hood, did he have to decide whether to feed his children or his cows last night.
http://www.masslive.com/editorials/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1174723749237840.xml&coll=1 or
http://www.massdairyfarmers.com/march82007.html
These are recent articles but if you went back to the 1970’s you would find that the farmers and not being paid much more now then they were back then. While the farmers incur most of the costs and responsibility for our lands and animals the question remains who is really making the profits? There were 812 dairy farms in Massachusetts in the early 90’s now there are less then 182. Where will we get our milk, cheese, yogurt, whey? We will ship it in from other states. Is that really what we want? The cost of running a business in Massachusetts has increased every year and yet the prices paid to the local dairy farmer has not. Dairy farmers in Massachusetts are important. They are the keepers of our open spaces. They are the curators of the beauty that brings so many to our states. Imagine all of our dairy farms gone and in their place condos. Would you go on a scenic drive to look at rows of condos? Our farmers commit their lives to this. It is not a job. It is not 9-5. It is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Guess what, the cows still need to eat and be milked on Christmas, Yom kipper and all the other holidays. How easy do you think it is for a farmer to go on vacation? This is a way of life. It is who they are. Every day millions of people put cream in there coffee, milk in there cereal, give yogurt to there children and yes lets not forget about the billions of gallon of ice cream consumed everyday. While our local farmers are going out of business because they can not pay the price any longer could you ask Mr. Mike Suever, Senior Vice President of Milk Procurement at Hood, did he have to decide whether to feed his children or his cows last night.
// posted by DME @ 12:11 PM 
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