I just watched another dairy farm sell their cows and turn off the lights in their milk house for the last time.
While I know some people genuinely feel bad for them and fewer yet really get it, the majority of the world has no clue. And, to add to that, they couldn’t care less.
They don’t connect the loss of a dairy with any consequences in their life.
Let me “clue” you in.
Every time the bulk tank is emptied for the last time we don’t just lose a business. We lose a participant in a valuable lifestyle.
We lose someone who is willing to work long hard hours for little to nothing in return.
We lose someone who doesn’t stop until the job is done.
We lose someone who puts the needs of an animal over himself.
We lose someone who can withstand being covered in slime and poop.
We lose someone who learned from the previous generation and is teaching the next.
We lose someone who will pull a calf from its mother and do mouth to mouth to save its life.
We lose someone who soldiers through blown disks in their backs, broken bones and sore muscles.
We lose someone who can fix just about anything with duct tape, binder twine and wire.
We lose someone who sings off key as they lug full pails of warm milk so heavy it feels like your arms will be pulled out of their sockets.
We lose someone who tucks their kids in the corner of the cab on a pile of coats to take a nap.
We lose someone who walks through a cornfield that is curled and burned from too much sun and no rain while promising next year will be better.
We lose someone whose hands are knarled, cut and stained with grease and oil.
We lose someone who wrestles critters ten times their weight and cradles a fragile calf in their lap.
We lose someone whose word is as good as a legal document.
We lose someone whose character, integrity and reputation are natural daily activities.
The world doesn’t have enough souls with these qualities.
The world is thirsty for what we are losing.
The world will suffer a little more with each farm that dies.
The world needs to pay attention and be concerned.
