@Senile_Texas_Aggie . Thanks for the well wishes. We try to believe that it will get better. The car is being worked on, and my son has talked to the company we got the engine(s) from and have worked out a solution..... we hope. Taking parts off the first engine that had the bad heads, to put on the second one that had the hole in the oil pan; hoping that we will wind up with one good one. The warranty will be good, and we are supposed to get paid back for all the costs/labor/ fluids/parts that we have had to put into it. I sure hope it all goes as has been stated. I understand that Jason has gotten it in enough to start it and it sounds good.... still has more to do, but at least there doesn't seem to be any weird things so far. Of course my son can't do anything to help being on crutches.
I hope everyone on here, and indeed thousands of people that watch You tube...... see this video. It is so EXACT to what is happening. I shed a few tears because I see it every day here. NY state has the added burden of the weather...... all the snow, a shorter growing season, and the taxes in NY state are a real b$#@h...... There are a couple of farmers right in this area that came from upstate NY because of the better weather conditions here, and the much more friendly tax structure.
The guy who left the shoe industry and built the new facility, with all the robotic milkers and feeders, had money to put into it from somewhere else. 250,000 per robotic milker, a feeding system with the robots and such can cost millions. I have one farm that did just that and he has nearly 6 million in debt. The farm was basically debt free except for normal yearly operating expenses; but every year they were making less and less so thought that by going fully "automatic, and milking more cows", they could make up for it by spreading the costs over a bigger base. I don't know if they are going to be able to survive.
That is what many "new farmers" have done, taken money from somewhere else and put it into farming. But there are many of them that have also gone out in the past several years. What they said was so right. Getting 14.50 per 100 lbs of milk when it is costing 17.00 to make it is just a losing proposition. The lows always last longer than the ups, so you never get caught up. And it is very true. Dairy farmers are getting the same as they were getting in the 80's, and costs are 4 x times what they were. We can only tighten our belts so far. We are losing our genetic diversity, we are losing things like longevity in cattle. The average dairy cow lasts less than 2 lactations (2 milking years) on most farms nowadays. The concrete and "push" to make more and more milk per lactation, takes it's toll on cows. They get feet and leg problems.... like me..... they have more breeding problems...... they are pushed hard to stay at the very top "edge" all the time, and it just takes it all out of the cows. There is no "allowance" for things like stretched out breeding times, longer dry periods because they are not calving every year (12 months), a bout with mastitis, or a problem with digestion that throws off their whole system and therefore their production...... With the surplus of cows and available ready to calve heifers, and historically low prices for them because of the surplus, you just ship the cow and get another one to replace her.
I don't know the answer. But the small farmer is losing out, and then the support industries lose out, then the smaller towns lose out, and the communities just dry up and blow away like in the great depression. All the small hobby farmers, like most on here, have other income that helps to float their farming industry....... and are retired, and when they want to quit, will just quit. Who is going to take the place and fill the shoes..... and the knowledge, that is being lost? And is everyone so ready to just let us be fed by foreign entities that can then one day "grab us by the balls" and say, okay, no more food til you do what we want you to do? It really is coming to that and so many cannot see the forest for the trees.
