When I started this blog and became a
"twitterer", I made several long distance
friends who were also dairy farmers. Some of
these friends live in the east and some in the
west.
Although we have never met in person, we bonded over
the fear and anguish of trying to survive
the dairy crisis. We gave each other
support, information and tried to buoy
each others spirits as we struggled
to hang on to our farms.
One of my friends from Pennsylvania recently
let us know that they will be selling their
cows in the spring and taking jobs off the farm.
How sad I am for them, but I am so
grateful this crisis has not taken their
farm.
I have tried to stay away from the news and
not look at the milk futures. The market
is still too volatile and too scary.
Dairy farmers have not recovered from
the crisis of 2009. We struggle from
day to day. I try to remember that we
do not pay tomorrow's bills with today's
money. Sometimes that helps, sometimes not.
Every time a piece of equipment breaks, I
cringe.
This spring, we lost our second hay cutting
and had a $20,000 corn loss due to
flooding. Now the price of corn is hovering
around 6.00 per bushel and when you need to
buy 1000 bushels (or more) it is scary.
It seems as if no one is listening. I
know that Congress created the special
committee to look at the problems in
the dairy industry, but
the wheels of government take too long
and Congress cares more about fighting
amongst themselves and trying to "undo"
recently placed programs instead of
looking at the American people and what
they are going through.
I am sick and tired of trying to get
Secretary Vilsack to look at the
real picture. He never answers my
letters. I am ashamed to say he
is from Iowa.
I hope that something can be done soon
to save the family farms. I'm sick
and tired of people losing their
livelihoods and sometimes their homes
because of the greed of the "big boys".
To my dear friend Diane... May God Bless you
and your husband.
I wish you peace in
your life as you move on to a more
secure future.
"twitterer", I made several long distance
friends who were also dairy farmers. Some of
these friends live in the east and some in the
west.
Although we have never met in person, we bonded over
the fear and anguish of trying to survive
the dairy crisis. We gave each other
support, information and tried to buoy
each others spirits as we struggled
to hang on to our farms.
One of my friends from Pennsylvania recently
let us know that they will be selling their
cows in the spring and taking jobs off the farm.
How sad I am for them, but I am so
grateful this crisis has not taken their
farm.
I have tried to stay away from the news and
not look at the milk futures. The market
is still too volatile and too scary.
Dairy farmers have not recovered from
the crisis of 2009. We struggle from
day to day. I try to remember that we
do not pay tomorrow's bills with today's
money. Sometimes that helps, sometimes not.
Every time a piece of equipment breaks, I
cringe.
This spring, we lost our second hay cutting
and had a $20,000 corn loss due to
flooding. Now the price of corn is hovering
around 6.00 per bushel and when you need to
buy 1000 bushels (or more) it is scary.
It seems as if no one is listening. I
know that Congress created the special
committee to look at the problems in
the dairy industry, but
the wheels of government take too long
and Congress cares more about fighting
amongst themselves and trying to "undo"
recently placed programs instead of
looking at the American people and what
they are going through.
I am sick and tired of trying to get
Secretary Vilsack to look at the
real picture. He never answers my
letters. I am ashamed to say he
is from Iowa.
I hope that something can be done soon
to save the family farms. I'm sick
and tired of people losing their
livelihoods and sometimes their homes
because of the greed of the "big boys".
To my dear friend Diane... May God Bless you
and your husband.
I wish you peace in
your life as you move on to a more
secure future.
Janice, I agree with everything you said ! You are so right , NO ONE is listening at all ! Especially the politicians .They don't give a damn ! Thank you for your wonderful words . They mean a lot to me !! Diane
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