CNN just did a story that dairy farmers are destroying thousands of gallons of milk

[Aneeda72]

Yup, just like in the Great Depression. With the children out of school there is excess milk, regulation problems, and transportation problems. People with no jobs, no money, and hungry children. What to do with all that milk? Dump it down the drain.

 

[Don M.]

Food supplies may be the next issue we have to face. Farmers are having trouble finding buyers, and production facilities are having to close down due to lack of healthy workers. Delivery services to the stores are having troubles finding drivers. It's all showing signs of shortages in the not too distant future. I suspect that we may soon see canned goods aisles at the grocery stores looking like the toilet paper shelves.

 

[C'est Moi]

Yup, just like in the Great Depression. With the children out of school there is excess milk, regulation problems, and transportation problems. People with no jobs, no money, and hungry children. What to do with all that milk? Dump it down the drain.

It's not just children out of school, it is the shutdown of almost all restaurants in the country which means a reduction in all dairy products. They have to milk the cows and no place to store or sell the milk, so what would you have them do?? Good grief.

 

[Aneeda72]

It's not just children out of school, it is the shutdown of almost all restaurants in the country which means a reduction in all dairy products. They have to milk the cows and no place to store or sell the milk, so what would you have them do?? Good grief.

I would have them process it into dried milk.

I would certainly have them figure it out, fast. Yes, good grief that the United Sates of America can’t figure this out and doesn’t have a plan. People actually think we will learn and do things different? What lessens did we learn when this happened when my mother was a child?

Apparently not a dang thing!

 

[RadishRose]

We talked about this last week I think.
We have too much.
Crops are being ploughed under.
Today I saw piles of small zucchini and yellow squash rotting in the sun.
Beef and other meats are beginning to slow.

Schools, cruise ships and restaurants don't need it anymore.

 

[PopsnTuff]

Saw all this on the news today.....farmers plowing up thousands of crops to die in the sun.....unbelievable.

 

[Pinky]

We talked about this last week I think.
We have too much.
Crops are being ploughed under.
Today I saw piles of small zucchini and yellow squash rotting in the sun.
Beef and other meats are beginning to slow.

No schools, cruise ships or restaurants need it anymore.

It would be nice if the farmers put them into roadside crates with an option for people to pay whatever they feel they are worth .. leave a honour system cash box. I think it could work. I've seen this done with less than perfect fruits when I lived in South Australia.

 

[Aneeda72]

They could tell everyone with a pick up truck to come and get it, those that can could delivery to those that need. Essential products so it could work. Instead dump it out, plow it under, and the farmers will want more money, and get it, cause their crops are gone.

Moms mother lost their farm in the Great Depression as did Dad. History repeats itself. We learn nothing.

 

[RadishRose]

I hope some of them are doing that Pinky.
Picking is back breaking labor. I wonder if the farmers could sell produce picked by laborers and break even, at least.

Maybe people could come and pick their own? W used to do that at the strawberry farm.

 

[AnnieA]

I hope some of them are doing that Pinky.
Picking is back breaking labor. I wonder if the farmers could sell produce picked by laborers and break even, at least.

Maybe people could come and pick their own? W used to do that at the strawberry farm.

Pick your own is a great idea!

 

[C'est Moi]

I would have them process it into dried milk.

I would certainly have them figure it out, fast. Yes, good grief that the United Sates of America can’t figure this out and doesn’t have a plan. People actually think we will learn and do things different? What lessens did we learn when this happened when my mother was a child?

Apparently not a dang thing!

You would "have them???" Wow, who gave you that power? They are going broke, so I doubt they have the money to invest in new technology. There are no magic wands.

 

[C'est Moi]

Pick your own is a great idea!

Except today people are litigation obsessed, so if they tripped on your property they'd take your farm from you. Sad but true.

 

[PopsnTuff]

In the news about food banks throughout the U.S. working closely with farmers that are discarding so much that can be contributed but getting it to these banks is another story....and people in middle class that lost their jobs, no paychecks or money to buy food, now standing in long lines everywhere.....so incredibly sad.....wish I could donate but my funds wont allow it at this time.

https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america

 

[Aneeda72]

You would "have them???" Wow, who gave you that power? They are going broke, so I doubt they have the money to invest in new technology. There are no magic wands.

I don’t know where your anger comes from or what new technology you are talking about. This is a logistics problem and the powers that be should be able to figure it out in record time. Farmers get subsidies for planting crops already. It’s big business, there are very few family farms now. Besides family farms have roadside stands and sell their crops.

The pickers come from Mexico for the most part, the border is closed, therefore, no pickers. You ever pass a field and see white people out there picking? Lol. Do you live in a city? Better plant a roof top garden. Why do you think everyone is saying they can’t get seeds? This issue needs to fixed fast.

Who gave me the power? Sarcasm may make you feel empowered, but even if you eat your words it won’t fill you belly. I am serious. For those of you that can plant a garden, better to be prepared than starving.

While the milk going to waste is current supply, those crops going to waste are future supply. How do you think those cows are going to be fed if farmers can’t get grain from the farmers plowing it under? Most milk cows are in feed lots.

If crops are plowed under, where are the veggies for next year? No insult meant to anyone, but now is the time to think and plan for your personal survival.

Yup the farmers will go broke, yup the government will bail them out, actually we, the people will bail them out with our taxes. But food will be in short supply as the whole system fails. In the Great Depression people stood in bread lines, but I have not seen flour in six weeks in any store.

As for people picking their own crops in a farmers field, I don’t know where you live but where I live this is a common practice. Especially tomatoes and pumpkins, and I have never heard of any farmer being sued. There are signs, pick at your own risk. Stepping off my soap box. Stay safe.

 

[C'est Moi]

I don’t know where your anger comes from or what new technology you are talking about. This is a logistics problem and the powers that be should be able to figure it out in record time. Farmers get subsidies for planting crops already. It’s big business, there are very few family farms now. Besides family farms have roadside stands and sell their crops.

The pickers come from Mexico for the most part, the border is closed, therefore, no pickers. You ever pass a field and see white people out there picking? Lol. Do you live in a city? Better plant a roof top garden. Why do you think everyone is saying they can’t get seeds? This issue needs to fixed fast.

Who gave me the power? Sarcasm may make you feel empowered, but even if you eat your words it won’t fill you belly. I am serious. For those of you that can plant a garden, better to be prepared than starving.

While the milk going to waste is current supply, those crops going to waste are future supply. How do you think those cows are going to be fed if farmers can’t get grain from the farmers plowing it under? Most milk cows are in feed lots.

If crops are plowed under, where are the veggies for next year? No insult meant to anyone, but now is the time to think and plan for your personal survival.

Yup the farmers will go broke, yup the government will bail them out, actually we, the people will bail them out with our taxes. But food will be in short supply as the whole system fails. In the Great Depression people stood in bread lines, but I have not seen flour in six weeks in any store.

As for people picking their own crops in a farmers field, I don’t know where you live but where I live this is a common practice. Especially tomatoes and pumpkins, and I have never heard of any farmer being sued. There are signs, pick at your own risk. Stepping off my soap box. Stay safe.

Get over yourself; my family are farmers in South Georgia. I was responding to your absurd "HAVE THEM PROCESS IT INTO POWDERED MILK," which farmers would not do in any case. And FYI, feed lot crops (grain) are a totally different process from fresh vegetables; they are harvested by machinery. Those unharvested, unsellable vegetable crops will either be plowed under so fall crops can be grown or they'll sit in the fields and rot. I believe farmers know their jobs better than you do. And they put food on your table, so be grateful that they do.

 

[chic]

It would be nice if some of this country's billionaires would buy the food from the farmers, pay for picking, pay for transportation and get the food to food banks and also to the homeless. It'll never happen though.

 

[AnnieA]

Except today people are litigation obsessed, so if they tripped on your property they'd take your farm from you. Sad but true.

There are still 'pick your own' berry farms around here. Sure there's some sort of specific insurance policies for those farms that regular farmers might not have, but I'd imagine there is some sort of waiver customers could sign.

As a farmer's daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter gg granddaughter and on back ...I'd be calling every nearby local government for legal assistance in getting food where it's needed before I'd see it plowed under! After that failed, you'd have no choice. The economics of harvesting wouldn't make sense. You'd have to plow it under and consider it fertilizer for the next crop and hope your crop insurance policy is written to cover a loss under these circumstances.

 

[Aneeda72]

Get over yourself; my family are farmers in South Georgia. I was responding to your absurd "HAVE THEM PROCESS IT INTO POWDERED MILK," which farmers would not do in any case. And FYI, feed lot crops (grain) are a totally different process from fresh vegetables; they are harvested by machinery. Those unharvested, unsellable vegetable crops will either be plowed under so fall crops can be grown or they'll sit in the fields and rot. I believe farmers know their jobs better than you do. And they put food on your table, so be grateful that they do.

Again not talking about farmers, as much as the logistics of getting the goods to market. Not sure but you seen angry and now defensive to me. Obviously farmers don’t process fresh milk into powder. Again, it’s a Logistical problem. Does you family have a dairy farm?

Grain can be plowed under as well. Just wait and see. Cause if the dairy farmers can’t sell the milk then they can’t buy the grain, and then they can’t feed the cows and the cows, well, you know what comes next-no cows. I have a picture of dad and his brother on a dirt farm in Kansas.

They all lived with their granddads family and worked the farm. They had cows. Then they didn’t have cows cause they no longer had a farm. I have visited my great grandparents grave. They are buried in the same town where they owned their farm.

I also have family that own a farm in Texas that is in the history books. This farm was a cotton plantation. When my mother’s mother lost their farm; her mother farmed out the older children.
My mother was sent to the above mentioned farm, owned by her mother’s brother, to pick cotton. Nothing worst in the world than picking cotton.

Furthermore, we always had a garden and raised our own veggies. Cause both my parents grew up on farms. Most of my life I’ve raised my own veggies. I am not grateful to the farmers for putting food on my table. They didn’t.

 

[Aneeda72]

There are still 'pick your own' berry farms around here. Sure there's some sort of specific insurance policies for those farms that regular farmers might not have, but I'd imagine there is some sort of waiver customers could sign.

As a farmer's daughter, great-granddaughter, gg granddaughter and on back ...I'd be calling every nearby local government for legal assistance in getting food where it's needed before I'd see it plowed under! After that failed, you'd have no choice. The economics of harvesting wouldn't make sense. You'd have to plow it under and consider it fertilizer for the next crop and hope your crop insurance policy is written to cover a loss under these circumstances.

Exactly!

 

[C'est Moi]

There are still 'pick your own' berry farms around here. Sure there's some sort of specific insurance policies for those farms that regular farmers might not have, but I'd imagine there is some sort of waiver customers could sign.

As a farmer's daughter, great-granddaughter, gg granddaughter and on back ...I'd be calling every nearby local government for legal assistance in getting food where it's needed before I'd see it plowed under! After that failed, you'd have no choice. The economics of harvesting wouldn't make sense. You'd have to plow it under and consider it fertilizer for the next crop and hope your crop insurance policy is written to cover a loss under these circumstances.

Yes, there are plenty of "pick your own" farms everywhere. But most "for market" farmers can't afford additional insurance and don't want the liability. I am also a product of many generations of farmers and I will defend them at every turn. I know how hard they work and how unappreciated they are. And your comment about the economics is spot-on.

 

[C'est Moi]

Again not talking about farmers, as much as the logistics of getting the goods to market. Not sure but you seen angry and now defensive to me. Obviously farmers don’t process fresh milk into powder. Again, it’s a Logistical problem. Does you family have a dairy farm?

Grain can be plowed under as well. Just wait and see. Cause if the dairy farmers can’t sell the milk then they can’t buy the grain, and then they can’t feed the cows and the cows, well, you know what comes next-no cows. I have a picture of dad and his brother on a dirt farm in Kansas.

They all lived with their granddads family and worked the farm. They had cows. Then they didn’t have cows cause they no longer had a farm. I have visited my great grandparents grave. They are buried in the same town where they owned their farm.

I also have family that own a farm in Texas that is in the history books. This farm was a cotton plantation. When my mother’s mother lost their farm; her mother farmed out the older children.
My mother was sent to the above mentioned farm, owned by her mother’s brother, to pick cotton. Nothing worst in the world than picking cotton.

Furthermore, we always had a garden and raised our own veggies. Cause both my parents grew up on farms. Most of my life I’ve raised my own veggies. I am not grateful to the farmers for putting food on my table. They didn’t.

Oh, blah, blah. You're obviously the expert, so have it your way.

 

[Butterfly]

I don't think it is fair to blame the farmers, who don't have the money or other resources to get the milk to people who need it, or pay laborers to come in and pick the crops if they can't sell their products. Farmers live on a pretty thin profit margin in the best of times.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I agree that it's not fair to blame the farmers or any of the businesses along the supply chain.

This is an example of how the government could provide economic stimulus to farmers and other businesses in the supply chain by stepping in and buying/creating a demand for the milk, cheese, yogourt, powdered milk, etc...

It could be the same for the surplus produce if farmers could find the labor to harvest it. I've been reading that legal migrant workers have been unable to cross borders to come north for work due to the pandemic.

 

[Aneeda72]

I agree that it's not fair to blame the farmers or any of the businesses along the supply chain.

This is an example of how the government could provide economic stimulus to farmers and other businesses in the supply chain by stepping in and buying/creating a demand for the milk, cheese, yogourt, powdered milk, etc...

It could be the same for the surplus produce if farmers could find the labor to harvest it. I've been reading that legal migrant workers have been unable to cross borders to come north for work due to the pandemic.

Exactly! It’s logistics as I have been saying. There are no pickers for crops, the borders are closed. There are no truckers to pick up the milk to take it to be processed into dried milk which is a fairly easy process. There are no truckers to deliver crops. Money won’t help. Farmers already get a lot of money from the government.

Apparently the diet of cows can be adjusted so they produce less milk or dairy farmers can just continue to flush it down the drain. Crops could be transported by the national guard instead of rotting in the fields. But who will pick them?

What concerns me is the future food supply. The crops plowed under today are not being canned for tomorrow. Eventually, if the country doesn’t open up, there will be food shortages. Not only milk proteins, and veggies, but meat. Already some major meat packagers in several states have closed due to the virus. Some have reopened, some not.