Chica – A “Conventionally” Happy Dairy Cow!

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Chica is raised on a conventional dairy farm, yet she is a very happy cow. (Heifer really…since she has not yet had her first calf). There are different ways of dairy farming yet all have the same goal…health, comfort, and well being for each animal on their farm.

Dairy Farmers Make MILK With Work Ethic & Common Sense. That is Why Cows are HAPPY!

I have decided to post the “Official Statement” from the CMAB, setting the record straight about the production situation for the “Happy Cow” campaign.

 

I, of course couldn’t post this without putting my two cents. I consider myself with a bit of common sense (I said a bit…LOL) and really what this boils down to, in my opinion is the success of the campaign and the threat it is to those that oppose animal agriculture. So with that success they find creative ways to make the campaign look bad.

 

As a dairy producer in California, as all dairy producers in our state and nation, we work hard. Our job is 24/7.  This year has been devastating economically. We, though, continue to work. So when I hear a big roar about not filming “Happy Cow” commercials in California, and that roar is against us, the dairy farmers, since we are the CMAB I become a bit defensive. What I see as the real issue, is the fact that our state system and business climate in California along with the powers that drive these rules and regulations as the REAL problem. Why would we not want to do ALL work here in OUR state? That is common sense (that word again). We have an industry to represent and promote with a budget. Isn’t it only fair to get the most for your hard-earned dollar? If an industry is losing due to their contracts and demands, instead of whining about it, wouldn’t they change it to get the job? Either they don’t  need the job bad enough or there are too many fingers in the pie to pay for itself. So who is to blame?

 

It is not that I am all about defending the CMAB and the campaign, it is about seeing through what the REAL issue is behind the negative being stirred up because of a radical group who is scared of the success of the ad campaign.

 

The real justice would be reformulate our states system so that we can have a healthy business climate and CREATE more jobs instead of regulations that push companies and work out of our state and nation. 

  

*Setting the Record Straight on the Happy Cows Commercial Production Situation*

In light of an inflammatory article featured in the November 13^th edition of the Los Angeles Times, the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) offers the following facts about the production of its highly successful Happy Cows television commercials:

 

Fact 1: To set the record straight, we are not shooting Happy Cows commercials in New Zealand, we are shooting unhappy cows from all over the world auditioning to become California cows. Any ads that show actual California cows have always been – and will always be – filmed and produced completely in California.

 

Fact 2: The California Milk Advisory Board has been a longtime supporter of the creative talents in our state. The two most important commercial production professionals hired by our advertising agency to produce the Happy Cows spots are the California-based producer, Karen Rohrbacher, and director, Chris Hooper, who have held these roles with us for almost ten years. These experienced AICP & DGA members have been hired again to produce the new set of ads and will be traveling to New Zealand to oversee the small portion of production that will be filmed on a soundstage there. All post-production work, including music, animation, editing and special effects will be done in California, as always. To put this in perspective, four days total will be spent in New Zealand: one for pre-production and three for shooting. After this minor portion of production is done, the footage will be brought back to California where it will take six-to-eight weeks to finish each of the 10 new commercials. This means that a minimum of 100 times the work – and, thus, employment – done on the Happy Cows TV ads will be executed in California. In fact more than 90% of the entire 2010 advertising production budget is being spent in California and creating jobs for our important commercial production industry.

 

Fact 3: The California dairy industry is facing its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The situation has been so bad that 10 percent of dairies in California have been forced to shut down and sell off their cows. It’s more important than ever to spend producer dollars efficiently. We carefully considered all options for producing this round of commercials and the business decision was made to save money on the commodity end of the TV commercial production cycle – shooting of non-Californian cows on a soundstage – to help save the industry so that it can continue to produce the top quality dairy products that consumers have come to expect.

 

Fact 4: The California dairy industry is a major employer of the state’s citizens. The most recent economic impact data available, from 2007, estimates that 435,000 full-time jobs are associated with this vital industry. These jobs include on-the-farm and beyond-the-farm jobs, including those workers who grow feed, as well as workers in processing plants, distribution centers and grocery stores in the U.S.

 

Fact 5: The Happy Cows campaign (this audition series in particular) has been one of the most successful campaigns in CMAB history. We have received more than 800,000 votes (and counting) for the next Happy California Cow. This demonstrates an extremely high level of consumer engagement and interest, driving people to RealCaliforniaMilk.com where our dairy farmers can tell a deeper story about who they are and the tremendous products they produce.

 

 

 

Dairy Farmers “Just say NO”…Stop the Abuse!

 

 (After reading this article and was up well into the night writing this letter. I want to share it with you) 

Dear Mr. John Van Nortwick

I want to congratulate you on your publisher perspective in your October 2009 issue of  Agribusiness Dairyman, titled “Say No to a Bailout; Say No to Welfare; Say No to Your Processor.

 

In reading your perspective it is exactly what I had asked myself when my co-op had recently asked for more milk from us. I immediately asked, “Are you going to pay for it”? There response is that they have to look for the future needs of the co-op….”your co-op”! We MUST keep the contracts! We MUST stay competitive. I thought to myself…”what about me? What about MY business? What about what I have already lost?”….do they care?

 

In reading your perspective it was like seeing my thoughts, in print. Then it hit me! Before my re-location to Central California, I had worked nearly 5 years for Family Court Services of San Bernardino County Court of California. Everyday I dealt with battered spouses and victims of abuse.

 

Upon reading your perspective I realized that we dairy farmers are very much like the battered spouses I had worked with daily. (Let me be clear, I am downplaying spousal abuse by any means, I am only using it as an analogy and how similar the victim/abuser traits are, no matter what type of abuse it is).

 

We, as dairy farmers work hard. We take on all risks. We pay for our commodities to be delivered accept the ups and downs of those markets (if the companies have an increase of expense, we pay a “surcharge”). We then pay for the hauling of our product to processing. What happens if the truck transporting has an accident, spills the milk…well it’s our expense…we pay. We are accessed marketing fees, industry fees, etc….it is because it is “OUR” product.  Retail profits, though, are retail profits.  We are told “we need to stay competitive”. Yet the major profits of our product are seen at a processor and retail level…with no credit to us. As abusers they convince the battered that “it is your duty, it is good for the family, you can’t make it without me”, but when things go wrong and the abuser is challenged the victim hears that “it is all YOUR fault, you are worthless, YOU created this problem…YOU are now going to have to deal with it?”

 

When we take these issues to our co-ops and industry reps we are told…”dairy farmers, when it’s good they get greedy….want to make the big bucks THIS is what is causing over production”!  We hear this with every cycle and we, as a battered spouse, beaten down again…we BELIEVE what they tell us…”oh those dairymen…they can get together on anything…they are their worst enemy” (it is exactly what they want; abusers never want the battered to have alliances).

 

They have gained so much control over the producer that they have made us believe we have no options. They make us feel that we need THEM…with out them we are nothing….we have been knocked down, as a battered spouse to believe, we are NOTHING without them.

 

They are smart and calculated as most abusers are…they play on our weaknesses. Those weaknesses are our obligation to our animals and humanity and tradition. The dairy farmers I know feel that it is a sin to throw good milk away. The dairy farmers I know will not compromise the health of their animal for profit. The co-ops know a dairy farmers conviction. They also know that it is an emotional career and that we will suffer just so that we can keep doing what we love to do. When everything escalates and we are pushed to far and the shortages begin, as an abuser, they realize that they do need us again. They then begin to build us back up. They give us misconceptions of healthy contracts, increased consumptions, they give up hope that they have learned from this damaging cycle and it will NEVER happen again…they LOVE us again and we reap rewards…enough, hopefully, to dig us out of the previous hole.

 

 

I ask repeatedly…why is our price discovery based on the CME, it is so thinly traded? Why don’t we have an auditing function for cold storage reporting? Aren’t they the same people purchasing on the CME? Why are we importing MPC’s without tariffs? Are MPC’s safe? REALLY? All of these questions are answered by my co-op and industry reps with an attitude of being “trivial” that those issues won’t solve much. That is not the real problem, oversupply is your problem. That leads me to ask “the big” question. With the lack of transparency and accountability from the markets purchasing our product how do we really know? I am usually given the impression that asking that they think that I am delusional. Yet another trait of an abuser, they make you feel like YOU are crazy you do not really understand.

 

Is transparency too much to ask? Is what I am asking out of the question? Yet all I get is a dance….no REAL answers! They don’t care about the producers…why should they when there are retailers and processors making record profits even during these terrible economic times?

 

It all comes down to a National Supply Management program….(many say…I don’t want those controls)  My answer for that is….most battered spouses don’t even realize they are battered and controlled…that is how the abusers succeed for as long as they do….it is a pattern of devaluation of who we are and the product we produce.

 

A National Supply Management would “FREE” us…yes…we would be in control. We could stand up and do what we are meant to do…dairy…make milk. We would be in control of a fair wage for our product. We can decide to take risks of expansions and growth without it being a “gamble”.

 

Nothing is perfect and we will have to deal with ups and downs but we can at least we could be in charge of the peaks and valleys that is natural for all businesses. We can stop the killing of animals to “balance” supply and we can stop the devastation of generations due to untimely departures of dairy businesses that could not longer fight the “powers” that be.  We can be grateful that we still have your dairy this time around. We can turn the cheek and not come to realize the truth of our failed system, but in doing so; we will just sit and wait for the next down cycle to happen again. Will you be able to survive the next round? Will you have the energy for the fight?

 

Sincerely,

Barbara Borges Martin

Tony Martin Dairy

www.dairygoddess.wordpress.com

Milk, Cheese, Cream & Butter…A Cow is a Friend like no Udder-Our Dairy Farm Mission Statement

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Butter

Milk that is not homogenized (a process whereby all the particles are broken down to the same size so that they mix together) will naturally separate into a top layer, which we call cream. Butter is the result of churning the top layer of cream until it reaches a semi-solid state.   THAT’S IT….

 But…..Margarine contains:

veggie-oil blend
water
whey (milk)
salt
veggie mono & diglycerides
soy lecithin
citric acid
artificial flavors
vitamin A
beta carotene (for color)

How it is made (kind of disturbing, actually):

Margarine makers start with cheap. poor quality vegetable oils, such as corn, cottonseed, soybeans, safflower seeds and canola.

 Both have the same amount of calories. 

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared   to 5 grams for margarine. 

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over   ! eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods. 

Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and    
only because they are added! 

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods. 

Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years. 

And now, for Margarine… 

Very High in Trans fatty acids. 

Triples risk of coronary heart disease. 
Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol) 

Increases the risk of cancers up to five times… 

Lowers quality of breast milk. 

Decreases immune response. 

Decreases insulin response.

Healthy Calves=Healthy Cows for Great Milk and the Future of Our Dairy Farm!

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  I am so very happy to bring you our 3rd video. I am so very proud to introduce you to my daughter Tara. She is a 23-year-old full-time student at Fresno State University majoring in psychology. She is our relief worker for our calf raising team. We have a great love of calves, not only because they are so very cute (especially when they suck on your fingers) LOL…..but they are our future! Healthy and happy calves grow into healthy productive cows. We know that with committed calf care with consistency we are ensuring a healthy productive growth for our calves well into their adult life. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us and our family farm!

 

Defending the “Happy Cows” – A Fun Message for Milk and Dairy!

NOT A REAL COW....but very CUTE!

I find it somewhat funny how the “Happy Cows” commercials are coming under fire…from our own industry. Speakers at the Cal-Poly dairy symposium on Oct 17, 2009 claimed that the “Happy Cows” campaign give consumers the wrong idea. Even more ironic is two days before the symposium the “Real California Milk” website had crashed due to the rush of votes coming in to vote for the next “Happy Cow”. We had 60,000 votes last week alone. The website was down for two hours. The voting had reached nearly 550,000 votes. I don’t know how anyone can dispute the fact that over a half of a million votes for a “Happy Cow” could be negative. As a dairy famer who invests my ten cents per hundred weight of milk and could not be more pleased with that exposure to consumers for my product that I want them to purchase.

My question is, what has happened to our sense of fun and fantasy? Are we becoming so jaded that we can not enjoy 30 seconds of entertainment? Really, I get a big kick out of the “Shabby Chickens” trying to become “Foster Farms” chickens. Do I really think they drive in a car to get to California and eat junk food on the way? I enjoy the lizard selling insurance. I also enjoy the “Jack in the Box” ads, but really, the well spoken CEO in a suit with a “Jack in the Box” head? Reality they are not, but funny they are!

Chica- The Real Deal! Also Cute!

Look at entertainment in general. Entertainment magazines and reality shows are huge. We go to movies filled with comedy, action and fantasy. Millions of viewers enjoy these escapes from their everyday lives. Why? Most of us still have a sense of wonderment and fun. As we dredge through our daily grind we just want a bit of laughter and entertainment, a bit of a break from reality. It is necessary for a happy life.

I do not have chicken experience, I love to eat chicken, but honestly, I do not want commercials of their raising, killing, plucking, and butcher. It is reality, this I understand fully, but I don’t want to see this reality popping up in my face as I prepare dinner with the TV on.

If I do want to research a food or a farming method I will do so. I appreciate having access to find answers to my questions. If you go to www.realcaliforniamilk.com (where you go to vote for the Happy Cows) the first thing that you see is the “dairy documentaries”. It introduces you to families and facets of dairy farming. THEN, you proceed to the “voting”. As those half of a million (plus) votes were coming in that is a half of a million chances of people being exposed to the farmers and their methods. Voting continues and they come in daily.

I have chosen to take to another sector, the “blog” world and hope to reach out to those that visit that area for their information and entertainment. I show my practices in a raw and unedited way with the introduction of “Chica”. I don’t do this for my fellow dairy farmers as they understand our methods. I am reaching out to those that do not have ”dairy” experience or even a different type of dairy operation.

Unfortunately, no one has found the “silver bullet” to connect to everyone. Advertising is very expensive so you hope to reach as many as you can with monies allotted for that. There are many types of personalities. The extremist are the hardest to connect with as they often see one way and anything off course from what they believe is considered “the enemy”. They use “shock” to bring attention to their mission. Extremist, however, are not the majority. They are vocal and use these tactics to lure those that do not know the difference.

That is why we, individually, need to speak out as well. We need to continue to educate the value of dairy and to expose all aspects of dairy farming. Introduce to consumers dairy practices from grass-fed to conventional, small to large. I believe that we are on our way to doing so. 

Entertainment sells and that is what the “Happy Cows” are doing….entertaining! Let’s lighten up….we all deserve a bit of a laugh!

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Legacy of Fine Cows and State of the Art Dairy Facility Sadly at Risk!

Call for Action!

Cal Poly Cows Preparing for "History Channel" Shoot

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is considering reducing the beautiful herd that is a mixture of fine Holsteins and Jerseys from 150 to 30. My disappointment at the decision to reduce the dairy herd to 30 cows is almost beyond words. It is far beyond the nostalgia of being a parent of a student. It is knowing the importance of the researched technology and responsible animal handling procedures. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is responsive to the needs of a growing population. It is also a fine example of modern dairy that exemplifies the humane treatment of animals. Cal Poly is a shining example of animal agriculture that should not be looked at lightly and is perfect to promote and used as an example of a modern dairy.

My son AJ and friend Jared working at Cal Poly Dairy! "Learn by Doing" motto in Jeopardy!

 

More and more of the population is growing completely out of touch with where their food comes from. In allowing groups like PETA, HSUS, and Michael Pollan who have their agendas in removing animal agriculture and their attempt of creating a vegan world by half truths, myths, and opinions. They have put, effectively a black mark on our industry. Cal Poly has the ability to respond to those allegations. These groups speak from the mountain tops and we, as an industry, have allowed this. We have considered them often to be radicals and to be discredited. Unfortunately as populations grow and farms fade away it becomes easy for consumers to believe the negativity when they do not know anything else.

 

 Many of us dairy farmers have started to get involved with social media in attempt to put a “face” on the farmer. Cal Poly has the ability to represent in such a larger mass.

 

Cal Poly Has a State of the Art Processing Facility---Not fully used???

Cal Poly is the perfect example of “farm to plate”. I have been lucky enough to participate in the cheese making class. The Cal Poly processing facility is outstanding. It is a beautiful dairy at the same location of where quality cheese and ice cream are made fresh with many options for research in other products. It is perfect. Consumers NEED to see this.

 

I understand all too well the hardship the dairy has and is going through. Never in our three generations have we seen this magnitude of financial devastation and continue to hope and pray to recover. We are now beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Prices are turning, slow but steady. We are short on milk so soon we should be back on tract. Many of the contributors to the program will soon recover and will be back on tract with contributions that I am sure have been missed due to the economic crisis.

 

We must FIGHT for this! The best of things are worth fighting for.

 

Contact: 

California Polytechnic State University

 San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

                 805-756-7877

 

Dr Bruce Golden  bgolden@calpoly.edu

Dr Warren Baker – President  wbaker@calpoly.edu

Chica Eats! Cow Nutrition Important to Cows and Dairy

Welcome to my 2nd video. Dairy farmers realize the importance of good nutrition for their cows. Not only during pregnancy but during all stages of a cows life. A good balanced feed is important for the health and well being of the cow but it also essential to make great tasting, healthy dairy products. Thank you for visiting. I look forward to seeing you again soon!

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A Face on a Farmer! Get the REAL story of Dairy Life!

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      This is my first video in attempt to put a face on the dairy farmer. I have decided to chronicle my heifer Chica as she goes from a heifer to a milking cow.

Many consumers are out of touch with where their food comes from. I think that it is important to regain their confidence due to the negative media on animal agriculture. I hope this can clarify the many myths these organizations are showing in their campaign to create a “vegan world”.

This is very raw and unedited. I am feeling a bit embarrassed as I do not like to be on camera, but I realize that we must attempt to reconnect to the public and showing them the dedication, welfare, and hard work that goes into producing the quality dairy products that we produce.

Letter to Congress : Dairy Crisis; Lets Fix the Injustices!

September 29, 2009 

Lady Justice

To: Members of Congress

 

My faith in my industry leaders and co-ops is greatly shaken. This is why I muster enough confidence to  write to you on my behalf and for the behalf of the hard working dairy farmers in our nation that have had to endure these difficult times and lay mercifully at the hands of those who are to be representing us and looking out for “best interests”.

 

I am a third generation dairy farmer married to a third generation dairy farmer. We have experienced highs and lows in the past but now the highs are very short lived and the lows carry on for months and months. Dairy farmers have been in the worst economic situation since the Great Depression. Yet, I sit here today and we are short milk nationwide with the price that we receive still below the cost of production.

 

Did our leaders not see this coming?  We have just completed retiring many healthy cows because there was too much milk, yet we are now bringing milk from Kansas and Oklahoma to California. That doesn’t make any sense!

 

We do know that Kraft and Dean Foods both recorded record profits. We also know that retail prices for Cheddar was up 4%, Ice Cream up 5%, American Processed Cheese down 1%, Butter down 14%, Fluid whole milk down 20% (Q-2 2009 vs Q-2 2008). Yet the U.S All-Milk price to farmers down 47%.  

 

Another injustice is the use of MPC’s in our domestic market. MPC imports are up and our milk price is down! It would make sense that we would restrict MPC’s from being used in our domestic supply. These MPC’s have a direct impact on our price at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange which is a thinly traded market. It would make sense to produce these MPC’s here in the United States.

 

We have been blessed to have $350 million allocated to help the dairy farmers. I urge you to use some of those funds to put dairy farmers on a level playing field with “Big Food”, co-ops, and processors.

 

Our milk price has not increase to date due to the “ample” inventory supplies. Dairy futures are driven by the NASS surveys. Only about 800 are required to report. With this reporting there is a two week lag time.

 

More disturbing to me is that there is NO AUDITING FUNCTION what so ever. Even a slight miscalculation of reporting is an indirect factor on our milk price. I would like to see some of the money allotted to help dairy farmers to go toward the implementation a mandatory auditing function and quite possibly to daily reporting which would add to much needed transparency and improvement of our price discovery.  The Beef/Pork producers have daily reporting with an auditing function that has worked very favorable for their industry.

 

As in all business, a balanced supply for demand is needed. We already have a faulty price discovery system with inventory reporting that has no accountability. With those factors in place it takes away our ability for necessary triggers that we need to balance our supply with demand. Dairy farmers are in a different situation than most, as we can not just “shut down” and not produce milk at the drop of a hat, as the health and well being of our cows are at stake. I think that many have benefited from this lag and lack of supply triggers.

 

I am also asking of you all, to help implement a National Supply Management Program. This will enable us to stay in alignment with demand. Highs and lows are inevitable at times but this will be manageable and keep us from devastation. It would put us on a level field. It would put us in a situation of control in our industry and relieve dependence of government assistance and alleviate the need to retire perfectly good and healthy animals to balance supply with demand.

 

I am asking you to please consider these solutions. Allow us to help ourselves by improving and changing the systems that are now in place. As most can agree, what we have now is failing miserably. It is time for change in our industry!

 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

Sincerely,

Barbara Martin

Tony Martin Dairy

6240 21^st Ave

Lemoore CA 93245