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TUNKHANNOCK — It’s hard not to see the picturesque cows, pasture and farm equipment at Milky Ray Dairy Farm without thinking of a classic Norman Rockwell painting.
And indeed, Ray Kuzma has enjoyed operating the farm since 1977. He’s all too aware, though, of how fluctuations in the price of milk and escalating costs threaten not only his farm, but the entire dairy industry.
According to the United Stated Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, in the early 1980s, close to 200,000 dairy farmers successfully operated in the United States, today that number has fallen to 45,000. In Pennsylvania, most recent statistics indicate 7,800 functioning dairy farms statewide, a drop from 2007 in which 8,300 dairy farms were in existence.
Kuzma anticipates that number to drop further, with diminishing profits unable to sustain present farmers.
“In the ’70s and ’80s dairy farming had the ability to make capital purchases,” Kuzma said, “milking machines were purchased, barns were built, cows were bought.”
No longer.
“I don’t think that it is possible for a young person to start a new farm,” Kuzma said, “profits would not cover the costs of building barns, buying animals, even purchasing the necessary land.”
Milk prices
Many dairy farmers believe market mechanisms should set the price of milk, supply and demand, not federal mandates.
Kuzma agrees with members of the National Family Farm Coalition, who say the formula implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine reimbursement to dairy farmers makes it difficult for them to survive and impossible for them to prosper.
The formula takes into consideration costs of processing and marketing, but not costs incurred by farmers.
Katherine Kozer, NFFC executive director, said buyers exert an undue influence on milk pricing.
“In the past legislators have looked into the monopolistic quality that co-ops, as buyers, have on milk pricing,” said Kozer, “but they did not follow up.”
Kozer said dairy farmers needed a long term pricing system that was both sustainable and viable.
Arden Tewksbury, Coalition spokesman, reflecting on the effect of the formula on farmers across the country and the state, said, “There is a better way to price raw milk to the American dairy farmers that would be fair to the dairy farmers, fair to the milk processors, and would be affordable to the American consumer.”
Tewksbury said milk pricing, in reflecting trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, has created a system that benefits a handful of large agribusinesses and dairy cooperatives, putting dairy farmers at a pronounced disadvantage.
The non-profit organization, according to their website, represents 24 grassroots organization in 32 states.
“It’s helpful to have members of the NFFC speak on behalf of dairy farmers,” said Kuzma, “especially when we have people in Washington who do not have the best interests of farmers in mind.”
Kuzma places some responsibility for current milk prices squarely on the shoulders of International Dairy Farmers Association lobbyists who have flooded Washington.
“The organization’s name is misleading,” said Kuzma. “Lobbyists benefit manufacturers, marketers and suppliers rather than the local farmer.”
Kuzma said before increased government intervention beginning in the early ’80s, dairy farmers had the opportunity to thrive.
When his father moved from mining to farmer in 1921, it was relatively easy to set up a farm, with limited use of technology and small herds. Much of what was then capital was simply the ability for families to wake up early, work hard and sacrifice.
With so many dairy farmers thriving during that period, Kuzma said it was a pleasure to have opportunity to fellowship with other dairy farmers from the same geographical area, something he is not able to do today.
“The infrastructure when it comes to dairy supplies and services has also collapsed,” he said, “there are no large animal veterinarians in the local area and we have to travel to get supplies.”
Commitment
Kuzma is committed to the farm and its lifestyle. With days that start at 5 a.m. and end at 7 p.m., Kuzma said profitability is important, but is not top priority.
“Even when the farm prospered, both my dad and I put the profits back into the farm,” he said, “we simply needed to provide necessities for our family.”
Having grown up on the farm “since birth,” Kuzma has a lot to say about the nutritional benefits of milk.
“If your kid is going to play sports some day, best start him off with whole milk,” he said, “providing calcium necessary for strong bones. And they call fats ‘brain food’ for a reason.”
“Even the school lunch programs have directed the use of low-fat milk,” he said, “even when kids are allowed to buy soda.”
Kuzma and wife, Annette, think often about the future, with both hope and resignation.
The farm run by the Kuzma family since early in the 20th century, is fueled by a love for business, farm life and family. With 90 heifers and 90 milking cows it is still bustling with its owners efforts to stay in business and remain somewhat profitable.
Unlike most other dairy farms, it does not participate in a co-op system, selling its milk directly.
Kuzma said with diminishing profits and increased costs many of today’s farms will not pass to the next generation.
As for Milky Ray? Kuzma gives it a 70 percent chance of remaining in business in the long term.
“Our son Michael, 12, might perhaps want to keep the farm in the family,” said Kuzma, “but I’m leaving that decision up to him.”