June Dairy Month is a time to show appreciation to our farmers, who work endless hours providing a nutritious dairy product for families to enjoy. This month always has me thinking about those involved in the dairy community today and reflecting on how that community has evolved. Recently, I came across a book titled “Louisville Dairies” which highlights the booming dairy community in Kentucky at the turn of the century. Louisville in particular was full of cows in backyards, small creameries, and milk depots. So many people were connected to dairy in some way. The 1910 census reported that of the 228,883 farms in Kentucky, 186,052 of them kept dairy cows. My, how things have changed!
Has it really changed that much though? Kentucky now has 320 dairy farms and around 42,000 dairy cows. Sure, that’s a steep change in numbers, but numbers don’t make up the whole picture. Dairy cows are now about 6 times more productive than they were a century ago, thanks to advances in management. That means that while it’s not 1 or 2 dairy cows milked by hand in the backyard these days, Kentucky dairies are all still family-owned businesses with deep connections to their communities.
I often find it difficult to represent the true vitalness of dairy farming. On one hand, it is easy to tout the important economic benefits that the dairy industry brings to the state and beyond. Combine our 5 commercial dairy processors and 9 micro-processors using milk from their own farm, with the dairy farming community itself, and dairy in Kentucky has an overall economic impact of $4.4 billion, supporting more than 15,000 jobs. On this same hand, we can also talk about the nutritious value of milk produced on these farms: 8 grams of protein, 13 essential nutrients, and key to a healthy and balanced diet. These are impressive metrics all around, but they don’t get at the heart of the matter.
On the other hand and at the heart of it, is the average Kentucky dairy farmer. He’s milking 140 cows and diversified like many Kentucky dairies, so he may raise corn and soybeans, market beef-on-dairy calves, and sell hay. Through these markets, he supports other local farmers. He hires 3 or 4 people from the community, to help milk cows, get crops planted, and bottle feed calves. All of agriculture is consolidating so this hired help is likely a generation or two removed from the farm even in a rural area. This farmer is doing the necessary work of not only contributing to so many ag markets and supporting local agribusinesses with his purchases, but he’s also training the next generation as he hires this local help. Teaching the future custom harvester how to fix a breakdown, the future seed sales rep what a good day to visit on the farm looks like, the future beef farmer how to treat pink eye. With a farming operation that has a need for a steady employee base, he is in a unique position to keep people connected to agriculture in Kentucky.
You look across the dairy community, and you see the same pattern. A micro-processor is mentoring a farm a few counties over as they navigate bottling their own milk. A progressive operation brings on a summer intern from a neighboring dairy so he can go back to his own family farm with new ideas. A farmer’s daughter takes a bottle calf to the elementary school and leaves dozens of children with a lasting memory. From this knowledge that dairy farmers so willingly share with others, a community is built that is vital to all of Kentucky agriculture.
I’m happy to say that although Kentucky dairy is not exempt from the national consolidation of agricultural enterprises or the pressures of today’s economy, it is finding ways to thrive in its own right. Whether that is embracing the latest tech gadgets to improve efficient on-farm management or learning to make ice cream and host agritourism events, Kentucky dairies will continue to evolve, succeed, and support the rural communities they call home. For that, we all may find a reason to thank a dairy farmer this June Dairy Month.
-Tori Embry, Executive Director of the Kentucky Dairy Development Council
