Dairy Belt (1962)

Shows the importance of milk production in the agricultural region known as the dairy belt. Compares activities on two dairy farms - one in Wisconsin, the other in New York.
We digitized and uploaded this film from the A/V Geeks 16mm Archive. Email us at [e-mail] if you have questions about the footage and are interested in using it in your project.

[@coffeehugger]

Best vintage dairy vid on all TH-cam.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Same song and dance routine at the end they've been telling farmers for the last 70 years... gotta produce more every year, on fewer acres, with more inputs and bigger more expensive machinery, in order to make a living... When this film was made in the early 60's, a farmer could make a good living and support a family AND operate a profitable business on a herd of 30 milk cows. Now all these years later, if you have less than 300 cows you're not even necessary and the processors don't want to mess with you unless you can deliver a semi-truck load of milk every day. Back when this film was made that little tank truck probably picked up from a dozen farms and delivered to the milk plant for processing.
We've all been sold a line of guff for the last 70 years... the more we produce, the more we increase production, the more it costs to produce and the cheaper (in real terms of real dollars corrected for inflation) what we produce is, and the more expensive inputs, land, and machinery is required. Most farmers nowdays work off-farm on a second job or have a wife working in town at a full-time job just to make ends meet, and basically everything they own is leveraged to the hilt at the bank just to get operating money. It's crazy.
Oh, but we all gotta PRODUCE MORE to "feed the world" because there's gonna be less farms but bigger farms in the future... and of course the price of everything will double and then double again, but what you produce will still be about the same dirt cheap price you're getting now... why we quit cotton and row crops back in 2003-- cotton averaged about 60 cents a pound from the time I was born in the early 70's until now, but the cost of living is through the roof, and machinery and parts and fuel and land and everything else... Cotton seed was $15 per bag when I was a kid-- now it's $350. Fertilizer was $50/ton, now it's $400 or more a ton. Diesel fuel was 16 cents a gallon now it's $3.00+ a gallon. A new pickup in '72 was $1,400-- now they're $55,000... a 2 piece chicken dinner at Ron's Chicken was $0.35 cents when I was a kid in the early 70's... my mom, dad, and I could eat out for about $1.50- 2.00 depending on whether we got sodas and fries or stuff with our chicken. Now it costs me and my wife and daughter $30-40 bucks just to get us each chicken fingers and sides and a tea at Golden Chick, or about the same anywhere else. But cotton was STILL the same lousy 60 cents a pound it was in '72!!
Race to the bottom, and it's the same song and dance they've been playing us with for the last 70 years... OL J R :)

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Same song old farts been singing since Adam.

[@mikecarr1378]

@@nonyadamnbusiness9887 Arse Hole !!

[@coffeehugger]

Turn up the sound!!!

[@nickkercheval2704]

I remember those days growing up on a dairy farm in the 50s and 60s. BTW, Mr Dibble had no brand preference in tractors!

[@coffeehugger]

This video is so cool, I think I'm gonna faint!!!

[@davidkimmel4216]

Thanks

[@reubentaylor3323]

Theres no sound

[@sperfdairy2160]

Love how it was 2 crops of hay today its 4 or 5

[@skeets6060]

No sound!

[@danielheckmann4898]

Nice👍🏻

[@luisellamanesco1896]

Standard family farmer usa not problem of demografy bat many many baby of great family of people of usa .very very important for usa long live us marine corps standard usa gerald Ford batte of iwo jima japan of oacific sea long live Luisella master scool of baby standard great family farmer usa and france germany ecc ecc ecc long live mireille mathieu pure and onest girl of family Avignone Made en france long live standard great family farmer usa long live principles of scientific management frederick winslov Taylor philaderlphia usa in generale vai Luciano robella Asti