The future of farming/work ?@#!@?

Just because technology is available, doesn’t mean it’s appropriate.

In my efforts to build my own small producer-handler dairy, I spend as much time as possible on other people’s dairies, learning whatever I can. Every time I transfer in the Coast Guard, I seek out dairies to volunteer on. As such, I’ve worked on little 3 cows dairies that produce farmstead cheese to sell at local farmers markets, to 1,000 cow dairies selling bulk to a cooperative.

The farm I work on now is a 100 cow organic dairy. I’ve been helping them milk and do chores for the past couple of years. In January, they bought two robotic milkers. It was interesting to be part of this process, and learn more about them. According to the dealer, they usually do installs of 2 to 4 robots. Each robot can handle 60 cows, so in most installations, it’s usually for 240 cows or less. In todays world, that is considered a fairly small dairy in the U.S.

I would rather see a small family farm with a couple robots than a 6,000 cow dairy with all hired milkers. Either way, the owner probably isn’t actually milking the cows. Besides actually milking the cows, the robots provide a wealth of health information, which can be used for early detection of health issues. While an owner milking cows might be attuned to this, it’s less likely with a hired milker. Some might argue why did we even go to milking machines if hand milking worked just fine?

I think robotic milkers have their place. On a small family dairy, it frees up time to do calf care, field work, or other chores. Admittedly, robots take more management than I realized, but it does open up some extra time. Also it allows for a small family dairy to operate without hired help. This is a huge advantage if you’ve ever dealt with all the paperwork and cost of employees. For the dairy I’m specifically talking about it also seated the possibility of passing the dairy to their son.

For my wife and I, we want to milk our own cows. I want the cow/human interface. We only plan on having twelve, and processing the milk ourselves. We want the small scale, but to someone selling milk simply as a commodity, 12 cows simply wouldn’t pencil out. Processing our own, will allow that small scale.

http://www.bluecreekdairy.com

Jeroen, The money situation here is similar. The large farm in the next town milks 1,000 cows and keeps borrowing money for newer bigger machines. The bank keeps lending money to him because he can’t fail or they will be out a ridiculous amount of money. He is a bad farmer and takes land from every little guy around, but the bank just keeps giving him money and he keeps polluting the land.

Peyton,

The article that you posted is full of misinformation. The FDA getting involved with farming is insanity, this is a bill to worry about, here is the source, http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/default.htm. It is a bit more of a read than the article, but is has the facts.

Management of our personal time, and the health of animals, land, and crops are the underpinning of the art of farming. As our culture has shifted away from the land the emphasis has shifted to the product and away from process. In so doing the principles of capitalism (not a snipe, just the title) and economy of scale have driven the practice of farming toward investment in equipment and infrastructure (capitalized investments) to increase production.

The problem with this scenario is that while there are (have been) always upfront investments, when managing biological communities (livestock and plants included) those investments must be within natural parameters related to the sustainability of health, soil productivity, weather, etc. As the economic investments increase those variables become mathematical complications that must be overcome for the formula to be effective.

For some reason, probably related to a few powerful people wanting to get richer, we have not understood that one solution is to unload the debt, and adhere to the basic ecological principles that inherently sustain those biological systems. That was (WAS) supposed to be the foundation of Organic practices…. and for many it still is…. but we keep looking for capitalistic solutions to the economic complications even within Organic.

There are a few of us… many on here… who can see the genius of downsizing to low investment, low input, low impact biological systems even for motive power. I don’t care ( I actually really do care, that’s why I have invested nearly 30 years in this way of life) how robotic we get, eventually the same economic truth will come crashing down on us….. we have to work within the parameters of the Earth’s ecological/biological systems if we intend to survive.

Now that is not to say that if you can find a way to afford technology, you shouldn’t use it. After all we are only victims of time and space, and truthfully none of us can live as islands. I worked for 25 years without a piece of equipment, but recently paid cash for an old crawler that I now use for road building, rolling compost piles, pushing logs, and some other minor things. We also have a 4Whlr that compliments the animal power for quick light errands and work…..

So I am not insisting on purism myself, which leads to complicate the discussion even more. It is very hard for most people to see a continuum. Most people see either/or, black/white. We are conditioned to see extremes, so in some ways the 4Whlr on a horse farm blows holes in the argument. However it still comes down to the economics. I have, and continue to, adhere to strict principles of protecting the sustainability and productivity of the biological systems I depend on, and measure all capital investments against those.

If the debt is going to force me to change my intensive biological investment strategies, then it won’t happen. (Which is why we farm at a scale that still allows us to earn off-farm income to pay for off-farm expenses, rather than looking to our land and animals to mine resources from our ecosystem to pay for unrelated expenses)

In our culture we have reveled in the cosmopolitan educational opportunities that modern culture has provided. One side effect is that we have produced entire industries of scientists, engineers, economists, and other specialists that have absolutely no connection to the land…. no understanding of Earth-systems….. who use their amazing knowledge to develop strategies and modernizations that just perpetuate the disconnection…. it is a virus.

There is immense genius in farming by horse and hand…… blood, sweat, tears, and horse manure.

Hang on, I think we are in for a wild ride…. 😯

Carl

Hey Carl, that system looks pretty inviting as I head out to do chores at 5 below! In seriousness, I believe that for every person / corporation who envisions this future for agriculture, there are many more who seek out a smaller, simpler model.

Here are a couple of factoids for Vermont agriculture: (1) the value of Vermont ag is up 15% compared to 5 years ago while average farm size is decreasing (90 acres in 2007, 80 acres in 2012). (2) the majority of Vermont’s new farms (354 in total) are between 10 and 50 acres; and (3) there has been a 22% increase in new farmers ages 22-35 – bucking the trend of aging farmers nationwide.

There are many of us (both farmers and consumers) in Vermont and nationwide that are bucking the trend toward highly capitalized, chemical intensive farming. Despite all the dire news, I remain hopeful, passionate, and sometimes pugnacious about the future of small farms.

George, great response. I am not a crop farmer, but my wife and I make our full time living off the farm and employ someone full time May-October and part time in the slower months. We mainly sell goat cheese and farm-made sausage. I am a believer in low debt, low cost, low volumes/high margins, and self-reliance. When we managed to couple this model with high quality, identifiable cheese and sausage, we have done well. It is an ever-evolving process.

There is a great article in the current DAPnet newsletter on a horse-powered CSA in Canada. Perhaps the fellow who sent you that inquiry would be interested in a copy.

George