Milk Money: Cash, Cows, and the Death of theAmerican Dairy Farm

Milk Money: Cash, Cows, and the Death of the American Dairy Farm by Kirk Kardashian

American dairy farmers do not have it well today. The work is difficult, and the earnings are small and erratic. this book is an exposé of the underbelly of the dairy industry, while being sympathetic to the small family dairy farmer.

Dairy really took off in the northern climates of Europe. Farm animals had been milked in warmer climates. However, the milk was typically consumed in a processed fashion (such as yogurt.) In the north, the growing season was shorter and milk would be a better source of food. People also had genetic adaptations to be able to consume dairy into adulthood. This allowed more consumption of fresh milk. (It would be interesting to see how this came about. Did those with the mutation travel to the north? Or did those in the north with the mutation out-survive others?)

Dairy finances are extremely convoluted. There have been various price support and subsidy schemes in place. At one time, the government promised to buy all excess milk, leading to large storage of cheese and nonfat dry milk. There have been various export schemes. However, American milk is expensive and at is a challenge to compete internationally. Milk is a commodity, and farmers are paid by the hundredweight based on market prices. These are set by a survey, yet often just end up being the low price from the commodity exchange. 

Farmers often sell their milk to processors. They must pay to have the milk hauled away. they must pay for marketing. There are a multitude of items that end up being deducted from what they receive. Even when the are members of cooperatives, there may be factors working against their interest.

Consolidation has happened in the dairy industry. Giants, such as Dean have gobbled up many of the processors and squeezed the producers. Farmers have moved to huge CAFO operations. The health of the cow and the quality of milk are not nearly as important as the quantity produced. There are significant fixed costs involved. It is difficult to reduce production, thus there is a constant pressure to produce more. The giant producer operations can better manage economies of scale. However, they depend on labor - which is often from Mexico and central America. The environmental impact of these giant operations also tends to be much worse.

The book concludes with the "future" of dairy farming. A small scale distributor that focuses on high-quality milk. The milk is not organic, but adheres to higher quality standards. Farmers can be paid more as they focus on brand rather than commodity. This does seem like a nice solution. However, I can only see this being a niche market. Maybe that is what is left for family farmers, while the big guys can focus on the commodity market. The book is an interesting look into the economics of milk. It tries from some personalization, but doesn't succeed as well as some other similar books.

Pigs: Keeping a Small-Scale Herd for Pleasure and Profit (Hobby Farm)

Pigs are interesting animals. Like humans they are omnivores. They also tend to be fairly intelligent. They can also get sunburnt. They have been raised extensively primarily for meat. This book explores raising pigs. There are many different breeds, including some based on an island in Georgia. There are purebreds and mixed breeds. The commercial variety are more "machine" than animal. They are optimized for certain characteristics. 

There are a lot of details that go into raising pigs. It is interesting that the nature of intervention in typical pig raising is similar to the human medical system. We intervene in the lives and raise animals in non-standard ways. Then we need to intervene more medically and nutritionally in order for them to survive this non-standard upbringing.

The Way of Ignorance: And Other Essays

Wendell Berry provides insight into issues facing America from the perspective of an intellectual that is deeply connected to the land. The land is not something that is to be left in a "pristine" state to be admired. It is part of a larger ecosystem in which we live. Man must work with the land to provide sustenance. Sustainability is important on a global scale. 

Modern culture has sought to remove the intimate connection people have with the land. Rather than "husbandry", there is now "science". This implies that scientific control as we act on the land, rather than working with the land. This has resulted in massive increases in short term land productivity at the expense of long term sustainability. Science uncovers ways to mechanize and fertilize to increase productivity. Then science must work to find ways to fix the consequences that this damage has caused. These experiments are done on such a massive scale that the consequences are difficult to address.

Today we often have individual groups that attempt to address small aspects of the land degradation problem. Unfortunately, they are often narrowly focused and end up competing with each other. Some groups want pristine wilderness for recreation. Others want land to be used for cattle grazing. They end up fighting for chunks of the land for their purpose. A better solution would be to work together, keeping all the land open for both. If done right, the grazing can help restore and grow the land to make it a better experience for recreating. (Ironically, our national parks are often anything but pristine areas. They are often "protected", preventing some of the natural destruction and renewal from taking place.

Both the "center" and the periphery have their place in our society. We often see one pitted against the other, especially in our red vs. blue political dichotomy. However, it would be better to have "community" against absentee corporatism. The fast food chain on the freeway is just a blip on a corporate accounting book, while the local businesses in town are integrated in the community. The real effort should be to build up the local community with local resources, rather than to fight to see which foreign "savior" can fly in and provide local jobs in return for sucking up resources.

Religion and local knowledge also play important roles in our society. Individual farmers know their local land and have the generational experience to know how to best manage it for good. Religion can be a unifying force as well as provide a groundwork for positively relating towards other. (In one essay, Berry explores how he has worked through his understanding of Christianity.) Science, mechanism and technology can provide some benefit. However, we must look at the long term picture. We need to continue to work to increase our local connections to other people and the land.

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations

The top layer of "dirt" is what helps our civilizations survive. Many great empires have died after a thousand years due in part to their destruction of this topsoil. Darwin dedicated his final career work to the exploration of topsoil production and the important role that worms played in producing more soil. The early book spends a great deal of time discussing different civilizations and the impact they had on the topsoil. Soil degradation is viewed as a significant reason for the rise and fall of empires. As populations grow, irrigation and other large scale works are needed to help support overfarmed soils. This leads to creation of government structures. Further growth leads to farming of marginal lands and erosion. Vast empires are needed to provide food for the urban areas. Eventually, the degradation puts the society on the edge, and a small climatic change or weather anomaly can push the society over the edge. "Empire" food production can lead to events like the Irish Potato famine. Many people in Ireland starved due to the potato crop failure. Meanwhile, cattle were being exported from Ireland to England.
The author does a great job of making his point. He uses simple math to show that intensive agriculture results in a rate of soil erosion that limits most civilizations to primary lifespan of about 1000 years. Some can last longer if they are blessed with renewable soil (like the Nile River), or can extend their farming reach. However, without care to the soil, they will fall. Soil is a tricky resource because the benefits of conservation often don't occur until the following generation. It is very hard to get political buy in for the short term sacrifices needed for long term gain.
While the ideas in the book are good, the writing is not. The chapters are organized by topic, but they ramble on, jumping around from example to example somewhat haphazardly. The point could be made in a book a fraction of the size. The ideas are strong enough to encourage making it through the book in spite of the poor organization.

Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life

In Growing a Revolution David R. Montgomery advocates farming practices that center upon building healthy soil. Conventional agriculture depletes soil of nutrients and gradually leads to an erosion of topsoil. Fertilizer attempts to restore some of the critical nutrients. However, it does not restore the important micro organisms that help make healthy soil. Also, a good portion of the fertilizer runs off, contaminating water supplies. In addition, the tendency to plant the same crops over and over makes them more subject to pests, requiring more pesticides, leading to resistant pests and more pesticide use.
He advocates for "no till farming" with crop rotations. Rather than plow the ground, the previous crops are used for mulch. New crops (of a different variety) are planted in the ground. The organic matter decays and improves the health of the soil. The rotation and planting of cover crops helps improve the health of the soil and make it more resistant to pests. This healthier soil is also much better at holding water than plowed soil. No till farming can be either organic or conventional. In general, it may more closely resemble organic farming because of less dependence on pesticides and fertilizer. However, the practice can be done with either conventional or organic approaches. (Pest control with conventional would still be an acceptable if needed.) An initial shift to no-till farming may see a drop in productivity. However, as the soil health builds up, productivity tends to be similar to conventional farming. However, the input costs of no-till farming practices are much less. Thus, even when productivity is lower, the no-till farms are still much more profitable.
The main problem with no-till farming is that there is not a business interest behind it. It results in lower demand for big agrichemicals. Perhaps what they need to do is get big farm implement companies behind it. There has to be a good deal of money behind "no-till" tractor equipment. Perhaps seed companies could also get behind selling more seeds. (Though the author does discuss a breeder who is working on perennial grains.)
The author also takes the discussion across the world. In Africa, he meets with a no-till advocate. In Asia, society has been returning human waste to the ground as fertilizer for many years. (Cities even sell their waste to farmers.) Even Tacoma sells processed sewage as fertilizer. Farmers in North Dakota have adopted no-till to significant success.