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http://www.fmmone.com/Northeast_Order/MA_Bulletin/bull1009.pdf
In the most recent Market Administrators Bulletin for Federal Order One (the Northeast) some interesting data is presented on page 2 & 3. The data raises a very important question, or maybe two or three.
Without the effect of large farms, there would be no problem with milk farm price. Bureaucratic officialdom has pushed for the above results. Bankers, Universities, and USDA all have pushed for the Darwinian approach. Those in the middle have been the only real benefactors of official policy.
At the same time, farmers are told they need to get together, they are encouraged from nearly every side to think only of number one.
Obviously, there can be no answers to the hard questions without leadership. At this point, officialdom must see the whole thing as a kind of blood sport in which they are only neutral participants. This is not true. Virtually all the blame lies with leadership.
Yes it quite true that the bankers, Universities, and USDA all have pushed for the Darwinian approach.
ReplyDeleteMore specifically, these so-called leaders have turned a blind eye towards the labor subsidy that has is going on in the form of illegal aliens.
It's been my observation that generally speaking (not always) as an operation achieves a certain size and critical mass it acquires the abilty to hire significant numbers of illegal aliens at hourly rates that are well below what can be considered a "living wage" in this country.
With that economic and managerial advantage the large farms can then direct their attention and resources towards modernization, feeding efficiency, breeding, 3 times milking, etc.. As a result they gain the ability to grow exponentially.
I recall a comment made to me 10 years ago by the owner of a large farm who has since doubled his milk cows from 400 to 800+ during that time. In essence he said that without illegal aliens milking his cows he would have gone out of business because his family was not interested in milking cows 3 times a day!
Please don't interpret my comments as anti large dairy farms but as the owner/operator of a 60+ dairy farm we don't have the size advantage to hire illegal aliens.
So, an argument can be made that the so-called dairy leaders have encouraged a Darwinian approach by allowing an unlevel playing field by keeping mum on the issue illegal labor.
The government is keeping mum because the illegals are paying into the social security system and will never see a dime of it back. Either through an employment id # or a social security # that does not belong to the illegal, money from 10-20 million illegals is being dumped into a system that is attempting to pay for our parents retirement. Granted some illegals are being paid cash, but say even 5 million are being paid with deductions taken out of their check, this is money the government does not want to lose.
ReplyDeleteIf made legal, the issue would have to be addressed, either they would not be required to pay or they would reap the benefit of paying social security and this is the real reason the government does not want to make the illegals legal.