KeithFink

I have never seen a fat guy in Wisconsin. LOL

Yes, and no. Unfortunately the inflation calculators don't often translate to farming. There are many different types of farming to which I cannot speak. I am a dairy farmer and I can speak to milk, corn, beans, and cattle. Cattle have been a bright spot for the last year or so, but anyone selling milk, corn or beans is not getting paid ten times what they did in 1963. Not sure what my dad was getting paid for milk in 1963 but I do have some of his check stubs from '67 and '68. If I were getting paid ten times what he was getting then I'd be getting $60 to $80/hundred! As of last month it's still between $21 and $22. Keith-

Ever since I started futzing with Farmalls I've noticed that we all grumble (well, not me... I'm a farmer, I don't know how to grumble...) about the high price of Hy-Tran. Well I'm here to tell ya that our troubles are over. I received a catalog in the mail today that fixes everything. We just need to buy it by the 55-gallon drum. It's only a bit more than a dollar/gallon! Keith-

The latest adjustment to the make allowances was to benefit the processors, and benefit it did! Everyone who sells milk through a FMMO should go back and look at their milk checks for the last two years. How much have you lost through PPDs? Go on line and check the official FMMO web sites for all of the Federal Orders. The info is there for all to see. The money we give back every month does not go to farmers in other Federal Orders, it effectively goes to the processors. When the negative PPDs were in the negative $.40 to $.80 range, it was very easy to ignore it, even if you are given to looking at your check stub every month. When the PPDs grow to the negative $5 to $9 range, all of a sudden we are talking BIG money. It is time to make noise. Keith-

Well my goodness! Your wet description sounds exactly like what we suffered through here in the upper midwest for the last two years. In most places, this year has been better. I'm very thankful to see that the glass door didn't also break when the hinge let loose. No one needs double the expense when none was expected in the first place... Keith-

Yes! Our troubled lives here, and then eternity! Keith-

Ha! The top photo is great! Ma on the wagon doing the grunt work, and Pa on the tractor doing the "precision" work... Keith-

Wow, Jerry, what a wonderful photo. Thanks for posting it for us to see. I can't quite read the small lettering on the truck door or the barn; where is that farm located? It looks like a first-class operation. What color was the truck? Regarding the ability to pay it off with a few fat cattle - we once rented a barn from a bachelor farmer who lived up the road. He loved to tell the story of how his dad harvested and sold something like 12 or 15 acres of corn (in the 1950s, I believe) and took the cash to town and purchased a brand new pickup truck. Sadly, times have changed. Keith-

Life certainly has something for everyone, doesn't it? We are so wet here I can hardly walk across the lawn to the mailbox without having to wear a life preserver. Keith-

Wow! I wish my Goodyears could climb hills like that! And I've got four-wheel-drive! Keith-

What's spring? Keith-

$1000/ea. That sounds like a pretty good price, given how things have been going at dairy sales for the last 18 months or so. pt756, who buys your milk? Okay, another question for those of you selling milk - is the mandatory dairy checkoff worth it? I've never thought about it much until lately. I'm pinching every penny I can find to muster up enough money to buy hay. Then one day I get my year end summary from the dairy and see that the amount I have taken from me by the National and State (WI) dairy checkoff collectors was nothing to sneeze at. I don't ship a lot of milk in one year's time, but the amount they took from me would have almost been enough to buy a gooseneck load of hay. So I wondered, did I get a proper return on my investment to the checkoff? I doubt it. As I understand it, the mandatory checkoff money is used to promote the sale and use of dairy products. But why am I paying for it? Why don't the retailers pay the checkoff? Are not they the ones profiting from the sale of dairy products? All I sell is raw milk. When it is unloaded from the truck at the plant, that milk is no longer mine. If the cheese, yogurt, butter, ice cream, or bottling plant is using my cheap milk to make a value-added product that they then need to sell, wholesale, or retail, why are they not contributing to the checkoff. Why do I need to sell them my milk for cheap, and then pay for ad campaigns that ask the public to buy their product? Now, I realize that a co-op environment is a bit different. Technically, I am a part-owner of the co-op, so the milk product being sold is still partly mine, and I need to convince the consumer to buy it. But in this case, I already have a small percentage of my check withheld for co-op advertising. Why should I also pay to sell products made by other co-ops or privately-owned processing plants? They are not sharing their profits with me. Am I wrong? Hopefully I am. If I'm right, then I'll just feel even more stupid for letting my money be stolen from me every month.... I'm very willing to see the other side if anyone wants to present it to me. Okay, sorry for the rant. It was spurred on by reading the latest issue of Hoard's last night. A glowing article by their editor on the "great" FUEL UP TO PLAY 60 program that I am apparently helping to fund. I don't believe dairy products were mentioned even once in the article... Keith-

Ha! Cool. Was it raining, or did all of those trucks have a protective clear coat applied? Keith-

You'll shoot your eye out. Keith-

Ha! I don't think the poor fella on the DC is actually that cold. Take a look at the horizon in the background - I think the trees still all have their green leaves! Luxury! Keith-