Lab C
Idaho Mega Dairies in specific canyon county
As geologists we have the responsibility to ensure the community that if we do express opinions on a subject that it be expressed with as much open-mindedness as possible. When you are talking about dairy farmers especially you are dealing with people that have more then likely been raised as such. If you're a child of a farmer and you been taught to raise cattle and produce products that most people in this country take for granite you will defend your way of life until the government steps up and does something about it.
With that said we will try to keep an open mind and keep everything relevant to the issue, and not try to intentionally criticize someone else's way of life. If you have lived in Idaho your whole life then you know all to well that the state is growing in number very fast. (See Idaho population growth by county for more details). Canyon county is number six on the chart of the fastest growing counties in Idaho. Therefore Canyon County is seeing some exponential growth in the last 40 years. In fact it has grown over 45%. Now if you can picture yourself as a farmer who has farmed your whole life just dreaming of the day you can turn the farm over to your sibling to take care of the rest of his life. But reality hits and it's the 21 century now and the rules are starting to be changed by the government that perhaps might not have any idea how hard it is to maintain a living milking cows. Here you are fighting for your livelihood trying to stay successful, trying to keep your kids in school and the property taxes paid, every year hearing from neighbors, and from peers, council members and other members of the community that you are causing pollution and whatever else is your fault from your way of life.
Many farmers that are used to being able to make a living off a mid size farm are starting to see that in order to make a living anymore they are being forced to build larger farms because governments are stepping in to enforce the price of milk. To the farmers there are options, you can either get out of the business, sell your land, or you can invest and borrow to buy more land to keep conducting business.
Even though some people think modernizing is the key to a successful economy in the future, it doesn't mean that the farming industry should be reduced to the back burner when thinking about what is contributing to the ever-growing economy. My point here that agriculture is vital to America’s economy and should not altered should interest those who live in farming communities. Beyond this limited audience, however, my point should speak to anyone who cares about the larger issue of making sure agriculture is seen as an important asset that benefits citizens and other industries that utilize the products that are
Growing up on a farm is not uncommon if you live in Western Kansas. As many know, however, it 's not
Our nation was founded on agriculture, and for hundreds of years we were able to migrate across the nation bringing our farming tools and techniques with us. Technology has driven populations away from rural areas towards industrialized cities. With money now being pumped into cities, rural farmers are suffering the most. Farmers are taking out large loans in order to sustain their farms, leading to debt and in some cases suicide. Patel spoke about a farmer in India whose husband took his life because he was unable to live with the amount of debt from his struggling farm. This man left his wife and chi...
Many can argue that factory farming is a necessity in an ever growing world however; animals are not here for us, they are here with us and by employing federal laws to govern the way in which these animals are not only raised but the conditions in which they are kept, is a key component in respecting these animals and ultimately protecting not only the environment but ourselves. By educating those around you, informing your legislature about what we can do to enforce laws in factory farms and even to stop buying products from these large corporations can ultimately help this cause. As Ghandi once said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way in which its animals are
In his 2009 article “The Omnivore’s Delusion”, Blake Hurst takes a stand against the numerous non-farmers who are attempting, and in some cases succeeding, to degrade and ‘clean’ the farming industry. Hurst’s main points of contention are the lack of true knowledge these intellectuals have on the inner workings of today’s farms and their insistent belief that the farmers themselves “…are too stupid to farm sustainably, too cruel to treat their animals well, and too careless to worry about their communities, their health, and their families” (24).
Hunting and gathering is probably a preferable lifestyle compared to a farmer, but it seems a bit over the top to blame absolutely every problem in our society on agriculture. It’s a common argument, but Jared Diamond's theory does seem to be quite an over-simplification. For example, he argues that inequality between sexes could be caused by agricultural because women were made beasts of burden and given greater pressure to work on the fields. However, the root cause of that isn’t agriculture, it’s sexism and stereotyping, because without an outdated sexist mindset no one would treat women differently in the agricultural department, and it is an oversimplification to ignore this. Furthermore, because of farming and globalization people now are given even more opportunity for a diverse diet. Although early farmers had access to only one or a few crops versus hunter-gatherers who had an entire forest of varied food, people nowadays have many more options than both hunter-gatherers and early farmers combined. A grocery store has ten times as many diverse and varying food items as a forest does, providing food from all corners of the world not just a single location or country, allowing people to create a perfectly balanced diet if they so choose. In conclusion, I agree with Jared Diamond's thesis on certain grounds, but I mostly disagree that the introduction of agriculture was the “worst mistake in human
In the 1980s, many farmers in the Midwest were running out of business rapidly and found that they could not stay in the agriculture indust...
The first premise is known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). These are operations concentrate to meet the demand of low cost high quantity amounts of food. For years, farms were thought of as the farmer that woke before the sun to tend to the livestock and the children would work the farm after school. This is no longer the case, these small-scale farms fight to complete with the larger industrial factory farms that have the capability to meet the economic and agricultural demand. CAFOs are becoming a battleground in the war over food and the environment in the United States. (Kolbe, 2013) The center of this war is Iowa with its rural population and interest in the agricultural industry. There is increasing concern over these operations from their surrounding areas.
Because of this, most farmers are selling off their farms to large companies or taking other side jobs to support themselves. Another reason why farmers are going out of business is because most businesses are using only large companies for their products. For instance in 1968, McDonald's had 175 independent meat suppliers, but now there are only five meat suppliers. The large companies have shared their information and cut down meat prices in order to take over the small farms. In 1970, the top four companies produced twenty-one percent of the meat, but now they produce eighty-four percent of the
These ranchers are the ones who absolutely have to keep all the cows and calves alive. If one dies, more profit is lost. These “middle class” ranchers are the ones who struggle from year to year to make payments, but they love what they do and will not quit. Middle class ranchers are the ones who work day in and day out with little rest to continue to prosper. Feeding a family, continuing the tradition, and improving the cattle industry are just a few goals which these ranchers seem to strive for. Many people who live in town don’t understand the ranching industry. Shipping is when all the young calves are weaned and sent off to feedlots, where they will be fed out until they are old enough to butcher. Ranchers only get paid once a year, which is called shipping season. When income only comes in during September, October, or November, payments have to be set up for annually rather than monthly. For example, vehicle payments are made annually, usually set up to be made around November or December, as their calf check has come in and money is now available. The ranchers credit must also be outstanding as they are leaning on bank notes to get them through the year. Once shipping season rolls around, all the notes and payments can be made from the year. The Stimpson Brothers Ranch Incorporated, which is the family ranch which I live on, struggles from year to year, but doesn’t know any different lifestyle. Everyone grew up this way, are raising their kids the same way, and will die on the place, exactly how their parents did. They struggle to make ends meet and only have enough to get by, but they enjoy the life they live and are happy with what they accomplished. The countless hours of dedication and hard work only gave them more pride in the operation and industry itself. These hard working and determined ranchers are what the real ranching world is all
To really begin to understand this complex topic a person really needs to understand the basics of agricultural subsidizing. A subsidy is defined as a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public (Mish, 2003). More specifically, in the agricultural industry the government provides financial assistance to producers in the farm industry in order to prevent decline in production. The government does this by providing financial assistance to farmers and by managing the cost and supply of certain commodities. There a few reasons for this. One reason is to provide assistance to family sized farm owners who have trouble competing with commercial farms. This is supposed to maintain an efficient market balance. Another reason is to control the prices of commodities and keep the global food prices low. There are two main ways that payments are made. The payments may be made directly based on historical cropping patterns on a fixed number of acres. Or they can also be made depending on current market prices. Farmer’s may be guaranteed...
Since factory farms are the most popular ways to farm, the farming industry is being overrun with them. “…In the U.S. only 3% of farms now generate an astonishing 62% of that nation’s agricultural output” (Farrell). Dominating the farm industry, factory farms are slowly taking over conventional ways of farming. Supporters of the factory farms have many reasons that factory farms are beneficial. “Because factory farms are so large, they achieve ‘economies of scale,’ producing much more food at cheaper prices than smaller farms” (Farrell). Factory farms are able to make more food at a more affordable cost for consumers. According to Factory Farms: Are They Good for Consumers?, factory farms produce food cheaply, produce more efficiently, provide employment, and gross in large amounts of capital. Farrell believes that supporters ...
Farmers are essentially the back-bone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production, (CSS statistics). Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits. Farmers are life-long slaves to these b...
Envision a farm with an abundance of animals and crops. The farm that most likely comes to mind is not one of giant machinery and smokestacks of pollution, but a vision of the old red barn and cows grazing freely. Sadly, these types of farms are mostly gone in the United States. These ‘family farms’ are being replaced every day by bigger, more industrialized farms. It is sad to see such a staple of the American culture being washed away by a type of farm that is being used purely for economic reasons. Family farming is slowly disappearing from the American landscape. We, as Americans, need to realize the importance of family farming because it produces high quality foods and helps economically for the local community.
...gement of grass must be taken. On farms where grassland management is poor, rising beef prices will be eroded by rising costs.