i am very much worried about the future of the dairy industry

I will say that what I saw in the 70s and 80s concerning the treatment of slaughter cows was inhumane...especially downers , cancer eye and prolapsed cow's.
It was disgusting!
I think it's gotten better with the humane slaughter act tho .
Fact is tho that whether its fats, feeders , slaughter cows or bulls these animals are part of a business and not pets .
...part of the food chain .

 

I'll agree, commercial conglomerate milk operations are horrible. The place we used to get our milk from, when I was a kid, was different, though. Small operation, the cows roamed free, the farmer knew each and every cow (almost) intimately. We would occasionally turn up with our empty jugs right about the time he was getting ready to milk them.

It was odd to see they had a 'leader' and she would bring the herd to the barn at the same time, morning and night, and they would all line up at the door in order - leader first - and wait their turns. No whips, prods or coercion of any sort, just cows waiting patiently to be relieved of their burdens. After milking, they'd just wander a bit from the barn and wait for everyone to be done. When the rounds were complete, they'd do what cows do and roam the pasture for 10.5hrs or so.....

The family farms aren't the ones guilty of abuse. The mega farms, like mega trucking companies, treat their only commodity like dirt.

 

Kemp's unfit milk goes to hogs in southern Minnesota.

 

As long as I'm alive and kicking,there will always be a demand for milk.

Drink a quart a day,I buy the cheap 1% from walmart,the only thing that comes close imo is Borden.

 

I just want to apologize to clausland and ad356, and any other farmer here. I'm a city boy, born and raised, spent the 2nd half of my life in the country. The farms I worked on, great people, but I made it clear from the get go, no animals, no crap. I was a driver/equipment operator and mechanic, and you kind of get used to it.. It's a low stress, peaceful job, and a welcome change from busy America. I think farmers have one of the lowest divorce rates, unlike truckers, the highest. Farmers get the worst rap, weather, economy, finding help, equipment costs, it's a tough job, the toughest, probably. I'm not a vegetarian, but could be, still like a good steak, and farming is responsible for so many things besides milk, we couldn't live without them. And ALL animals disgust me, not just farm animals. A tip of the hat to our farmers, especially now.

 

I used to haul off Fair Oaks in Indiana weekly. 31000 Cows in 5 separate milking stations. The automation and conditioning of the animals was something too see.
I will say the orderliness and cleanliness of the farm and barns and milking rooms was admirable .

 

The milk dumping was on the news. It is the schools and eateries side of things that is causing the dumping. Because those are packaged up in bulk. But on the consumer side of things they are in high demand. The issue is it takes time to switch over to individual packaging vs the bulk packaging. They also, which I suspect isn't true, were saying they didn't have enough drivers to move the milk. So the milk being dumped isn't what would come to us. But what would be sent to schools, or used to cook in eateries.