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Post by BuckSkin on Sept 8, 2022 0:18:58 GMT
Scenes on Edgar Jessee Road
Millerfields - Adair County - Kentucky
Photo By: Mrs. BuckSkin
Monday_26-May-2014
Holstein Heifer
Here is what Kidadl, and Wikipedia have to say about them.
Free Coloring Page
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pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Sept 8, 2022 0:50:23 GMT
Is there a lot of dairy in Kentucky?
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Post by BuckSkin on Sept 8, 2022 2:18:23 GMT
Is there a lot of dairy in Kentucky?
Fifteen years ago = YES; now, not so much.
The road my father-in-law lives on, maybe four or five miles long, twenty years ago, there were probably forty dairies; now, there is one --- it is a big one, milking probably 400 cows, but it is the only one where there used to be many.
My father-in-law was the last hanger-on other than the big operator; the milk company was wanting to force him out; they found a loophole in the contract and jacked his haul bill up so high that he finally had to give in and quit.
Up until the mid-1980s, we had a huge Cudahy Cheese Plant right in town, and everybody milked, even if only half-a-dozen cows.
Lots of people who lived close to town and only milked a few would haul their cans of milk straight to Cudahy every day, last night's milking and this mornings.
Half-a-dozen old scroungy cows have paid for many a kids school clothes and Christmas --- but no more.
The milk companies won't even take you on anymore if you are milking less than a thousand head, unless you already had a contract from years ago.
There are a few two thousand head dairies in the county.
The brothers that I help farm used to all milk; four brothers and their father, five separate dairies; now, only one of them still milks - maybe two hundred head - maybe more; if I can remember, I will ask him tomorrow.
They have a neighbor who we chop silage for that is milking probably a thousand head; he just recently built a brand-new huge facility and will probably step up to a couple thousand.
But, for the most part, for every place that still milks, there are thirty or more that don't.
Like it is, the local economy has really suffered; these big operators don't run to town to buy anything; they buy in huge bulk from places far away and have it trucked in.
Back when everybody and their brother milked, even though they might be milking only a few head, they spread that money around right in the local area; if most of them got thirty miles from home, they would start hyperventilating, so thy did their business close to home.
All in all, things were a lot better around here in the 1960s/1970s than they are now; and now, we have these people who have made their living somewhere else flooding in here and grabbing up all the property and then trying to force us to live by their standards --- standards that we cannot afford.
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Post by BuckSkin on Sept 8, 2022 2:29:27 GMT
As for the local economy, up until the mid 1980s, we had no less than seven clothing stores right on Main Street.
You could buy any brand of jeans known to man right on Main Street.
Each store specialized in a particular brand of overalls, coveralls, and work jackets, or maybe more than one brand.
Every one of these clothing stores also sold boots and shoes, plus we had a huge shoe store that only sold shoes and boots.
You could buy a brand-new John B. Stetson hat right on Main Street.
Now, if you were unfortunate enough to bust the seat out of your britches, there is nowhere in Russell County to buy a new pair --- nowhere.
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pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Sept 8, 2022 2:30:31 GMT
Thanks. The world is changing. I know little about dairying. There are a few around but mostly they are closer to the big cities to the north. Apparently, there is a huge one close to home that is a high-tech, automated dairy with a huge rotary milking platform. The cows walk in and are automatically (?) connected to the vacuum milkers. These things: youtu.be/P6OtnUmw37Uyoutu.be/A3ZML3OP9SMMega bucks! $$$$ My dad milked (what?) 30 or 40 head nearly 70 years ago in England. The dairy had a vacuum system to milk the cows but the milk cans still had to be emptied by hand. And he had his own pasteurizer. Now that was along time ago and I recall few details. One day, my brother and I (about 5 years) were running behind the manure spreader staying just out of range of the flying manure. But one clump of wet manure got an extra whack by the spreader. It hit me square in the face.  |
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Post by BuckSkin on Sept 8, 2022 2:40:45 GMT
one clump of wet manure got an extra whack by the spreader. It hit me square in the face.
Back when the river was rolling high, there was a huge International Harvester dealership right across the corner from my father's tire business, Haggard Implement.
I have often heard it said that Howard (Haggard) had a good guarantee and would stand behind anything he sold except for the manure spreaders.
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pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Sept 8, 2022 3:17:55 GMT
would stand behind anything he sold except for the manure spreaders. HA HA! Funny. |
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