4 ms·

At risk of stating the obvious, dairy cows do not have a growing season. Cows are a 365 days-a-year commitment.

xipho 6y ago
My grandfather had a dairy barn, I'm aware of this. The community around it rebuilt it when it was burned, looked after it when he travelled across the country etc. Was it hard? Certainly. To suggest his (and his families) life was somehow less joyous than a 9-5 hacking l33t code all year is insanity.
- nineplay 6y ago
  The writer of the articles was very clear that _he_ found farming less joyous than "9-5 hacking l33t code". Your argument is more with him than with me. The writer's other two siblings also found more "joyous" things to do. It isn't for everyone, and that is going to continue to be the reason that they can't survive against Big Ag.
  - xipho 6y ago
    Right. I don't have an argument with the writer, its a wonderful article, spot on. Yes my families work was largely pre-big ag. Nothing is for everyone. The trigger that looped me in here was the "not sustainable because hard work", I drifted to tangents too quickly.
    - nineplay 6y ago
      > I drifted to tangents too quickly My too my friend, me too.
phillc73 6y ago
This is not always the case. I recall learning during my youth that in Victoria, Australia, the heat cycles and pregnancies of the entire herd were synchronised to that it lead to a period of 6 to 8 weeks where no milking occurred at all. That's not to say that there was nothing to do on the farm, or it was time to take a holiday, just that the cows did not need milking during that time period, so perhaps it was easier to relax a little. There are also "contract milkers" who can be brought in for short stints of time, allowing the owners to take time off. Of course there is a cost to this, but I guess that just needs to be budgeted into the overall cost of the "holiday."
- nineplay 6y ago
  The poster upstream suggested there were 6-8 months of downtime with nothing to do. We've gone down to 6-8 weeks with no milking. There's still feeding and watering and of course monitoring a herd of now-pregnant cows with all the possible health complications that come from that. I'm also relaying my friend's experience, not just speculating. In her circumstances, there was daily maintenance and no vacations. Perhaps her family didn't budget well enough.

My grandfather had a dairy barn, I'm aware of this. The community around it rebuilt it when it was burned, looked after it when he travelled across the country etc. Was it hard? Certainly. To suggest his (and his families) life was somehow less joyous than a 9-5 hacking l33t code all year is insanity.

nineplay 6y ago
The writer of the articles was very clear that _he_ found farming less joyous than "9-5 hacking l33t code". Your argument is more with him than with me. The writer's other two siblings also found more "joyous" things to do. It isn't for everyone, and that is going to continue to be the reason that they can't survive against Big Ag.
- xipho 6y ago
  Right. I don't have an argument with the writer, its a wonderful article, spot on. Yes my families work was largely pre-big ag. Nothing is for everyone. The trigger that looped me in here was the "not sustainable because hard work", I drifted to tangents too quickly.
  - nineplay 6y ago
    > I drifted to tangents too quickly My too my friend, me too.

phillc73 6y ago

This is not always the case. I recall learning during my youth that in Victoria, Australia, the heat cycles and pregnancies of the entire herd were synchronised to that it lead to a period of 6 to 8 weeks where no milking occurred at all. That's not to say that there was nothing to do on the farm, or it was time to take a holiday, just that the cows did not need milking during that time period, so perhaps it was easier to relax a little. There are also "contract milkers" who can be brought in for short stints of time, allowing the owners to take time off. Of course there is a cost to this, but I guess that just needs to be budgeted into the overall cost of the "holiday."

nineplay 6y ago
The poster upstream suggested there were 6-8 months of downtime with nothing to do. We've gone down to 6-8 weeks with no milking. There's still feeding and watering and of course monitoring a herd of now-pregnant cows with all the possible health complications that come from that. I'm also relaying my friend's experience, not just speculating. In her circumstances, there was daily maintenance and no vacations. Perhaps her family didn't budget well enough.