More Changes to Grandpa’s Farm

July 17, 2014

Let’s take another look at what has happened on Grandpa or Great-Grandpa’s farm in the last 50 to 75 years.

One of the first things one will notice is the increase in size. If Grandpa farmed 95 to 100 acres 75 years ago, that was about all he and his family could handle with the equipment available at the time.

Today, the area is still one of relatively small family farms, averaging a little over 150 acres in size. This is still a sizeable increase even though these are considered small farms.

At the same time, there is a big increase in the number of family farms that are 400 to 600 acres in size, on up to 3,000 or 4,000 acres here in far northeast Ohio. It is on these larger, more efficient farms that 75 percent of the food in the United States is produced.

Locally, one has seen real increases in the ability of the smaller and larger farms to produce higher yields. In order to stay in business, these farms have had adopted new technology and improved farming practices to keep costs down and increase their yields.

Another interesting change that has been going on for many years is the improved quality of farm products coming from farms of all sizes. With new quality regulations and more interest from those who eat farm products, quality has had to improve. And, farmers have made remarkable improvements to produce the safe, quality foods that come from all family farms.

One farming business, for example, that has made remarkable changes over the years is the dairy industry. This is true locally and across the nation.

Much interesting information is found in the book “One Hundred Years of Inquiry and Innovation” published by the American Dairy Science Association. The association is the largest scientific organization in the world devoted to the dairy industry.

From 1931 to 1955, about 1.5 million farms got out of the dairy business in the United States. The number of cows on dairy farms stayed about the same and milk production had increased to 5,842 pounds a year from each cow, very low by today’s standards.

Then, during the years 1956 through 1980, the number of dairy farms dropped even more. Over 2.6 million dairy farms left the dairy business leaving less than 500,000 dairy farms milking cows. Herd size averaged 32 cows by 1980 and milk production from each cow increased to what was considered a remarkable 11,891 pounds a year. Total milk production in the country had dropped to about 128 million pounds.

Looking even further, from 1981 through 2005, the number of dairy farms in the country continued to drop, but at a slower rate than it was earlier. By 2005, only about 78,000 dairy herds were left. Average herd size was 115 cows that produced 19,576 pounds a year per cow, with some herds up to over 30,000 pounds. Total milk production had increased.

America’s dairy farmers made these substantial changes possible through the use of new technology, feeding practices, better equipment and good management. At the same time, they have helped keep the price of milk to consumers one of the nation’s best food buys.

One other change has been the improved quality of milk from dairy farms. With the use of pipelines in barns, milking parlors, quicker cooling and sanitation practices that have lowered bacteria and somatic cell counts and measures of quality, Americans have a better product than Grandpa produced.

In addition, Americans have changed the way they eat dairy products. Unfortunately, they are drinking less milk, a healthful beverage. And the milk Americans drink is much lower in fat. At the same time, they are eating much more cheese, ice cream and yogurt, which are all good dairy products.

Yes, Grandpa’s farm has changed in many ways.

Parker is retired from the Ohio State University and is an independent agricultural writer.