Another central planning fail.

http://www.agweb.com/article/nowhere_to_....

Quote:

Some say ending or modifying government support for corn-based ethanol would be a big step in aiding livestock producers. Others believe that getting Congress to approve a new farm bill would also help dairies, bringing stability and disaster relief. Still others stress that producers must play a greater role in their own price protection. Financial experts have been urging dairies to use futures contracts to hedge milk and feed prices.

Ask Ann Barnhardt about that last one.

Quote:

“The dairy industry is broken,” Traweek adds. “We’re continuing to lose dairy producers and generations of knowledge. We can’t compete with the corn market, the government, ethanol policies, slow-reacting cheese markets and a banking industry that won’t help us out. Someone should understand this is not working.”

From the CEO of AgTexas Farm Credit Services:

Quote:

“If you’re working with a borrower who has a challenged situation, the worst thing you can do is pull the operating line,” Harris says. “There are a lot of reasons why you want to keep that line of credit in place. It’s not just about compassion. As a lender, you need to consider the impact of caring for and preserving the cattle while helping the borrower to preserve as much equity as possible. If the herd husbandry is not adequate, the value of the dairy herd can deteriorate by 50% in a matter of hours or days.”

Too much intervention and control helped give us this.

Food industry is no friend of dairy, there is nothing to put in a box.

The pasteurization control booth has producer prices boxed in too. Very important to maintain that or the dairy cartel could lose big time and price discovery may occur.

It's a lot like health care.

Right you are, Azusgm.

The dairy model hopefully will revert to a few hundred cattle rather than a few thousand in institutional circumstances.

IMO they should totally deregulate anyone with less than 300 critters.

We just use six goats. 'Nuff for all of us and enough neighbors to buy the feed.

Expiration date on the 'Soymilk' stacked on My shelf is May 2013.

Dairy Farmers unhappy at having to share the Government Teet with Corn growers.
-**** THEM: Subsidized Corn Jockeys and Teet Pullers BOTH.

What do I know???

-Everybody in here Who has ever actually raised Cattle, bailed hay in 100+ degree heat, and shoveled Cow Dung for days on end -and seen the .GOV check come in the mail- can raise their hand.

( Throxx raises hand )

Questions?

No sympathy for the mega dairys.

(Hand raised)

Correction: I've stacked hay in a 110 degree barn loft, but never baled it over 95.

Never reaches 110 here in Scotland ,but hand raised to the rest

No questions. (Raises hand)

I give up on my fast. Some Bar patrons will know what I am talking about.

Truth, what does goat milk taste like? Some people say it's horrid. We have room for a few goats but have to let the pasture recover from our herd of 2 cattle and and a calf. The drought and the cattle turned it to dust and weeds. Butchered the steer and sold the heifer and calf. Some rain in the past couple weeks has helped the weeds grow though.

I think we would need to reinforce our fence for goats. I've heard they are escape artists.

When I had goats, I didn't care for the milk pasteurised but thought it was fine raw and cold. My kids didn't care for it. Makes great cheese.

Our partners and their two kids go through a gallon of cold, raw goat milk per day. We use a little for food ingredients, but neither of us have drunk milk for decades. We LOVE the cheese made from it, though.

Our fencing is 4' high field fencing with t-posts at ten foot intervals. Pretty cheap and easy to put up.

That's what we already have for fencing. How many goats per acre? We have to let our pasture recover, so probably have to wait for a year before we can put any animals out there. It's 3 acres.

I should probably buy a gold star, I miss out on so much in the Guns and Butter forum.

We've got six goats in less than a quarter acre. We move them to a similar sized pen every other year, using their pen for garden space after a six-month hiatus. It sure beats shoveling the sh*t, and they do a very nice job churning up the soil.

You live in a particularly lush area, don't you. We're haven't recovered from the drought yet. Probably should start with 3 or 4?

you should start with 2 - they usually have 2 or 3 kids at once - twins / triplets,

Yeah, a couple of milkers is a good start. With most of the standard breeds (full size), you'll get a gallon of milk/day each. Unless you REALLY use a lot, make cheese regularly, or have a couple of customers, you'll have all the milk you need with two.

Hope you all recover from that nasty summer!

I've had more than one person tell us not to keep males (bucks?). This would be a new experience. The cattle worked out well until the drought. Never had goats before, either, but people who have, said the bucks were unruly and very smelly.