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Development Replacing Dairy Farms in Area
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“Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.”
June is dairy month. Dairy has been a major commodity for Ohio and Clark County. Around 1930, Clark County had over 2200 farms that milked cows. We had many dairy processors that were a major contributor to our local economy. Today, we have five farms that produce milk and one processor, Reiter. However, their plant is one of the largest and most modern in Ohio. Ohio leads the nation in the production of Baby Swiss Cheese. We are one of the top producers of yogurt and ice cream in the nation. Dairy processing is a multi-billion dollar business in this state and a major player in jobs and our economy. However all is not rosie in the Buckeye State. The dairy industry is fighting for it’s life on two fronts. The first battle is the lack of farm families to produce enough milk to sustain our processing industry. There are many reasons why farms that milked cows dropped from 2200 to 5. It’s a commitment of 365 days a year and working up to 16 hours a day with no vacation and holidays. Once the children leave home, the cows soon follow. A recent article in Farm World featured an Indiana farm family that has been farming since 1849. Norma Deer, 72, of Bargersville stated “My husband brought me here as a bride. I’ve lived here 54 years. We milked cows 24 years. Worst thing you ever did in your life. You couldn’t go anywhere.” Reality is small farm families are not going to be married all the time to the cows. A recent Cornell University study predicted in fifteen years the number of U.S. dairy farms will decline from 105,000 to 15,000 and it will be the dairies with 500 cows or more that will survive. Economics also contributes to the decline. In 1975, farmers received 54 % of the selling price in the store for a gallon of milk. Today, they only receive 35%. The tight margins have not allowed small farmers to complete. This has led to a shortage of milk despite the recent growth of large dairies in the Midwest. A recent sign in Kroger’s milk case contained the following: “You may have heard about price increases for milk, cheese and other dairy products. The main reason for these higher prices is because U.S. dairy farmers are producing less milk than they did one or two years ago. There is simply isn’t enough supply to meet rising demand.” So, who will produce Ohio’s milk? Dannon Yogurt of New Breman, Ohio, is the nation’s largest yogurt manufacturer. They need to expand. They told Ohio agriculture leaders that they did not believe Ohio could supply them with enough milk so they built their new plant in Colorado where large dairies are being built. There went jobs and tax revenue to another state. Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa have economic development departments recruiting farmers to build large dairies in their state. They want our processors to bring our jobs to their state. The second front that threatens our dairy industry and our state’s economy is anti-livestock activists. There currently is a group in Clark, Greene and Fayette counties that oppose large livestock operations. They call them mega-farms. People in California and Northern Indiana would laugh at that. With dairy farms numbering up to 60,000 cows, 2400 to them is small. I call a 2000 cow dairy a large farm for Ohio. Opposing large livestock farms is a huge threat to a community; especially in Ohio where communities want to maintain their rural character. While the Jamestown group attacks milk pipeline construction, they sat and watched the biggest pipeline threat to their community being built; the new Route 35 four lane highway which will easily allow Dayton workers now to build homes in eastern Greene County. Is the new Beavercreek on the horizon? In 1987, I served as President of the Ohio Agriculture Extension Agents and led our delegation to our national meeting in New Jersey. I came back wondering if Ohio would be the next New Jersey; farms to concrete? The biggest threat to Clark, Fayette and eastern Greene Counties is urban sprawl. Everyone wants to live in the country on their own mini-farm. The most important issue to people is their personal security. I watch only news and sports on TV. I may spend three hours watching local news. The one big change I have seen in the past year is the huge increase in crime in Kettering, Centerville, Fairborn and Huber Heights. With the new Route 35, I can see and easy commute for people wanting to escape to the country. The average commute time in Ohio is 25 ½ minutes. Many people will drive an hour to work and live in the country. Columbus is another short, easy commute to Jeffersonville and Jamestown. There is only two future uses for Ohio land: Profitable farming or development. The average prices for corn and soybeans the past decade will not enable the average farmer to pay today’s competitive prices for land. Those producers who add value to grain by feeding it to livestock will be the most competitive in the future. With high nitrogen cost, those producing a fertilizer called manure will be the competitive producers of tomorrow. Recently, I drove the roads around the proposed dairies. I saw new homes around abandon livestock facilities. All one has to do is drive south of Jamestown to Highland and Clinton counties and one will see where small dairies once were, houses are now. Once livestock leaves, houses soon spring up. Livestock farms are now few in Green and Fayette counties. The only way to preserve rural character is profitable livestock farms. The average grain farmer rents 60% of his cropland. This rented ground is soon going to be for sale. Who will buy it; the grain farmer or developer? Manure becomes more valuable every day. We now have the technology to safely store and apply it to land. In Clark County, the new dairies are teamed-up with excellent farmers who have managed the manure from 1000 beef steers or more. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 20 cows or 2400 cows: it’s the management ability of the producer. Large dairies have to have excellent managers to survive. Three of the top four Jersey herds in Ohio in milk production per cow were farms with 300 cows or more. Manure is not toxic waste! People pay a premium for food that’s been fed by manure! It’s called organic! Clark County farmers are committed to maintaining rural character. We have dominated winning the farmland preservation money from the state for the past three years. This year we had 26 families apply. I wonder about Greene & Fayette’s commitment to keeping rural character. Only six Greene County farms seeked preservation money and zero for Fayette. Because of world competition, the surviving farms will be large. Grain farms will struggle to hold on to the land. It will be either profitable farms or development. I’ll take large livestock farms to housing any day because they will allow me to continue to live in the countryside. They also assist in lowering my taxes by repelling development so I don’t have to pay for school expansions. Personally, I prefer cows for neighbors because they don’t pour their used motor oil and antifreeze into the streams and best of all: COWS DON’T STEAL AT NIGHT! The signs in the protest area around well managed, profitable farms read “GO MEGA DAIRY.” The signs on mini-farms and houses read “Save Ross Township, no mega dairies.” Maybe they should read: “Save Ross Township for development.” “Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.” Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868 Updated: June 2004 |