Farm Land Security

I spend a lot of my time shooting pictures of farm sights, sometimes out my car windows or the sun roof while driving. I see great sights that are so momentary, you just have to catch them on the fly or forget it.



It is haying season on the plateau. The grass hay isn't the most nutritious grass hay in the world but it gets the farmers by if it is mixed with grains or better quality hay from over the mountains. This used to be big time dairy country but a lot of dairies in the area have closed up shop. The price of hay was up so high last year and the price of milk so low that well, you can only rob Peter to pay Paul so much. This year a couple of dairies in the area, my neighbors for example, bid to be bought out. The dairymen create a pool of money to buy people out and the result? Cows are put down;land is leased out. The neighbor looks like he bought a new boat but I hear a lot of tears are still being shed. Farms are labors of love and they are big long term projects that take constant attention; they are the place the family comes together to celebrate holidays, the livlihood, a deep connection with nature.

I met a couple of dairymen this past week. They both chased me down in their pickups at different times to find out why I was taking pictures of their land. Turns out that someone wrote a letter to the editor complaining about the smell that comes with fertilizing the hay fields with liquid cow manure. It's a decent sustainability practice. Good for me I'm on their side because boy howdy, I would not want to be on the wrong side of that fence. You know what though? It does smell and maybe there is a solution that would suit both the dairy farmers and the residents well. These manure lagoons have only been around for about 10 years. Innovation opportunity there? Is there a sustainable farming strategy that could work better? Maybe.



I asked one of the dairymen if I could do a "day in the life" documentary of a dairy farmer. He said that every day is different and he expected I would not want to see him do a day of work in his office. I said well, maybe I would. How about two "a day in the life" documentaries, one in the office the other in the field? He said maybe he would. He never knows what he is going to be doing day to day because he is always interrupted by emergencies. Could be that what you think you are going to get done one day doesn't get done for 10 days because this or that thing needs repairing or maybe a cow is sick and needs tlc or maybe a gun to the head.

I've seen the dairyman working since we talked and I really have to wonder if I can possibly keep up with him for a day. Can I stand the heat and the smells? Can I not be too darn sappy about the animals? I'm going to give it a try. If I can spend a night chasing bad guys with the Seattle Canine Unit I can sure spend a day with a dairyman; as long as I'm not the bad guy being chased!