KeithFink

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-

Friends, I have a new-to-me '72 Loadstar 1800 which has a 345 under the hood. Not sure if this engine is original to the truck, but it has a Carter Thermoquad carb which was (apparently) originally spec-ed for a Scout w/auto trans. Well, the plastic bowl section of the Cater TQ is cracked, so I'd need to find a similar core carb to furnish me with that part. Before I do that, I'm wondering about other carb options and their pros and cons for Loadstar duty. Anyone have any suggestions? What carb _should_ be in a Loadstar 345? Is there a reasonable/workable way for me to install a two-barrel carb on the existing 4-barrel intake manifold? In the short time that I've owned this truck, the performance of the 4 barrel Carter TQ hasn't impressed me, but with no previous Loadstar experience, I don't really know what I could expect, either. Thanks for anything you may be able to teach me! Keith- P.S. The truck in question can be seen here-

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-

Nice! A 56 rake still rakes all the hay we make for our herd. Keith-

Now how's a fella supposed to use that with the PTO shaft below the hitch? Keith-

Well, yes, and I'm sure we all know the answer to that question already. When a restaurant or shop owner leaves work at the end of the day, he goes home. With most of us dairymen, our work is our home. Sell the cows and farm, and you're also out of a home. Many times (and in my case, also) a home that has been in the family for well over 100 years. Selling is a TOUGH decision. A tough decision that Laura and I have considered constantly for at least 4 or 5 years now, but we have always found deep-seated reasons (not business related) why we both want to keep going. So Laura works off the farm, full-time, on the farm, full-time, and we put the kids to work before and after school. In our case, we can't just sell the cows and easily continue on the farm. Without the milk check, we haven't enough land to produce enough crop income to continue to make the bank payments. And, right now, selling the cows would not produce enough cash to even make a dent in the mortgage. If I went to work full-time, off the farm, it would take a miracle to be able to land a job that pays well enough to make the mortgage payment. It's a tough thing to constantly think about. Not to mention the fact that we are getting older and tired. But we'd both like to hang on for another 10 years or so to at least offer to the children a chance at the land. We are trimming some of the fat today. We are selling 18 heifers that are eating us out of house and home. The buyer is taking his choice as dairy replacements, and what he doesn't want will go to the feed lot. No better offers out there. Not yet sure what we will get price wise, but it will be cull price, not the $1800/head we could have received four years ago. We milk 50 cows, and our heifer count is at 39, so we have way too many heifers anyway. God bless you and your family, TD. We'll pray that He continues to lead you in the right direction. Keith-

LOL Keith-

Ha! About five or six years ago, our three oldest children were playing in a muddy hay field and child #3, George, lost his shoe in the mud. They spent hours looking for it, but it never showed...until this spring when I was chisel plowing there. I brought it home where it was welcomed with glee, but now many sizes too small for George who is now 11 years old. Keith-

Nice timing with this post....Did you know it is lunch time here in the central time zone? - LOL Seriously speaking - wow, so sorry for him. Best wishes for a healthy and as pain-free-as-is-possible recovery for him. I sure hope there will be no lasting damage. Keith-

The airport? Yes, probably. But strange people scenery can be had much cheaper at the (any) local Walmart! Keith-

Ah, yes, but if you're a GOOD manager, nothing will ever go wrong! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ....... Keith-

Wow! That one's a keeper. What era? Keith-

Very good point about equity instantly halved. We sold two Jersey almost-two-year-old heifers last Tuesday. Excellent condition, just wouldn't breed and I don't want to keep trying. One of these heifers brought forty cents, the other, fifty. A few years ago when cows were worth $ I sold a marginal Ayrshire heifer at the auction house for $1500. Keith-

Wow. Yes, what a crying shame. Keith

Interesting you should mention that, Tim. We had the same conversation today. Our vet is 70 years old. Has been our vet since 1982. He has already cut back his office hours to 3 days a week, but remains on call 24/7 for farm calls. He does have 3 other small animal vets at the clinic, but he is the only large animal guy. When he finally hangs it up, that practice will no longer do large animal. Not enough herds left. Talked also with our dairy field man today. He is 62 years old, and now fearing for his job, too. Our dairy is losing so many farms (but not cows...they all find their way to larger farms) there will soon be not enough work for all the field men. He and three others have a meeting at HQ next week. Change is scary, and sad. Keith-