Thanks
@Baymule . I thought at first maybe I wasn't typing correctly, and that maybe I was under the influence of the super strong Ibuprofen I was taking, and not making any sense.
@Duckfarmerpa1 : they are milking 200 registered jerseys. Normally takes about 4 hours in a double 5 side opening, parlor; but the daughter couldn't get off her job to come help, and so we did the afternoon and the guy who helps milking just isn't as fast. Took from 1:30 to 6:30 to milk that afternoon. When we test the morning milking I go up and stay overnight with the farmer and his wife, then they start milking at 2 a.m. and we usually get done between 6-6:30 a.m.. Then I would do the computer work, and then go to another small farm about 20 min away and test them. They started @ 7:30 a.m.. 20 +/- cows in a 10 stall stanchion barn, so 2 groups of cows....10 in to milk, 2 at a time, then 10 out and the next 10 in. Not efficient for farms with any number of cows, but that is how it was done for years and years before "parlors" were built. But that small farm sold out the first of Nov.... so only the bigger farm to do up there.
Heard on the radio just the other day, that Va has lost 18% of its' dairy farms in the last 2 years. Something like 56 in 2018 and 48 in 2019.... so say 100 dairies in the last 2 years. That means that if there were 500 dairies still in Va, then over 100 have closed down in 2 years to under 400 now. And it is like that in nearly all the "dairy states". The big get bigger to try to spread the costs out over an increasing number and the small farms go out.
The ankle replacement has been in the "working on it" stage for nearly 5 years... trying to find a dr that I felt comfortable with and that was not pushing the "just fuse it" mentality. Finally found one through a recommendation and am very comfortable with them. Mine will be a 2 part deal though, besides the main replacement ,I also am having another smaller "joint" fused because there is no "replacing it" and I have so much arthritis in it that have less than 15% use of it and alot of pain. Could do the replacement only, but then this might bother me in 6 months, or 5 years.... and I would have to be laid up again. So going to do both at once and be done. It will be several months, he said about 3-4 total.... due to the fusion having to totally heal before I do any weight bearing. Can't take the pain anymore, so I am thinking that this is a step in the right direction. If all goes well, then the knee will be next year. Tired of not being able to walk like a real person without the pain and being so unsteady on my ankle.
. That’s horrible about the small farms going under. It’s just like small businesses due to Walmart, etc. But, those poor people probably struggle to get a regular job after farming for their whole life...darn shame.
