The farmer receives a quality premium from Agri-Mark, the company to which he sells most of his products. At milking time, the cows' teats are carefully disinfected and then cleaned before they are hooked up to the milking machines. In the stable, the cow dung is regularly removed with a scraper. If Davenport makes it through, it will be due to the quality of his milk, for which he has won numerous awards.Įverything comes down to cleanliness, he said. The small rebound in milk prices at the end of 2019 has allowed for a little hope, but the situation is still tenuous.
"In my town here in 1987, there were 27 producing dairy farms," Davenport said. The number of dairy farms in the US dropped 20 percent over five years, ending up at 37,468 at the end of 2018. The reasons may vary - in too much debt, or at retirement age with no successor, or because the land is worth more than it can yield as a farm - many farmers have thrown in the towel. The larger farms have more chance of success, while the smaller ones will suffer. Davenport is particularly worried about a new state law that requires him to pay workers overtime if they work more than 60 hours a week.Īt the end of the day, "it's the last man standing," said Davenport, without bitterness. The costs of food production - in fuel, in labor - do not stop increasing. The consumption of dairy products has gradually increased every year, but overproduction is a chronic issue. The main problem, according to Davenport, is that Americans are "very efficient at making milk."īetween genetic and nutritional advancements, cows produce twice as much milk as they did in 1980. He rents his farm, where he lives with his wife - a retired teacher - and where they raised their two daughters.Īfter an exceptional year in 2014, the price of milk plummeted, not really picking up again until the end of 2019. "But I'd like to at least make some money doing it, or at least come out of it debt free," he says. The mustachioed farmer with cheerful eyes will tend later to his calves and heifers, housed in outdoor sheds.Īt almost 60 years old, Davenport could see himself working another 20 years - he loves his work and the idea of feeding people.
Heavily bundled up and sporting a green baseball cap branded with the logo of his dairy cooperative, Davenport walks from one animal to another, calling them by name and occasionally mentioning their birthdays. They calmly chew their constantly replenished feed or lounge next to the 20 cats who keep the rodent population under control. On a windy and glacially cold January day, his milk cows - Holsteins and Ayrshires - stay inside the barn.
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