TIMES ARE TOUGH

Headlines in our local paper stated "Dairymen Face Uncertainty". Scanning other headlines we read:
-Milk Prices Tumble in a Sour Market
-Plunging Milk Prices Threaten Local Dairies
-Dire Times for Dairy Farms
-two dairy producers in the southern San Joaquin Valley commit suicide over financial problems.

I think that you get the picture. Milk prices have bottomed out. But compounding the problem, dairymen are faced with higher-than-ever feed costs! Trust me when I say that it is no fun to be a dairyman right now.

We moved to Idaho in 1974, starting in the dairy business. When we struck up the deal with the realtor, milk price was at $8.40, but in the six weeks that it took for the deal to move through escrow, milk price fell to $6.45. It looked like we had made a huge mistake, having left a successful hoof-trimming business in California to become dairy farmers in Idaho! We used all of our savings, and then some, for the downpayment on the eighty acres, the double-two side opener barn, the twenty-two cows, the seven chickens, and the three non-operational tractors. Now we needed some money for operating our little dairy. These documents show that our loan request was DENIED.

The local bank says "no"

FHA says "no"

I stumbled on these documents cleaning closets yesterday. Reading them, took me back to those first few years in this business. They were not easy, but we have fond memories of the struggle. We persevered and we survived. We always gathered hope when we met with friends involved in the same struggle. I pray that we can navigate the rough waters of today with the same perseverance and hope that we had in those early days.

Harry, the dairyman, with my Dad.
Buhl, Idaho - Summer 1974