Every job is hard. Some require your utmost attention to detail, some mean you have to constantly keep ahead of the game, heck, some need you to keep people alive, even if you don’t particularly want to.
One of the hardest jobs I have ever seen anyone do is farming, more specifically dairy farming. When my sister met and fell in love with my now brother-in-law about five years ago I knew little to nothing about dairy farming. They still collected all the milk in a pail… right? Wrong.
Life on the farm. Image supplied.
It affects social events, either having to be in the middle of the day to avoid milking times, or knowing guests, even family members, will be attending in waves around when their milking schedule wraps up. Because yes, even on your brothers wedding day, the cows need to be milked twice a day or they could get sick, just like a mother can get mastitis or "dry up" if breastfeeding and pumping isn't maintained. It impacts on your finances, sure you may get a cheque monthly, or quarterly from the overarching milk company, but once you pay for farm maintenance, keeping your equipment up to date to ensure your working at prime efficiency, and feeding your money makers (cows) there can't be much left to spare.
I'm a terrible family member of people whose whole livelihood relies on the dairy industry. I don't eat much dairy, largely out of choice, partially out of medical reasons (too much upsets my tummy). But right now is when Australia needs to get behind our farmers, support the dairy industry, buy local branded products to keep these farms alive and functioning.
When you're already making so little on a bi-product of so much time and energy, how can you keep going with the massive cuts by the big dairy corporations? How will my sister and her husband support their three beautiful young girls become confident young women, with a flare for life on the farm if the farm has to be broken apart and sold? How can we demand the best of the best Australian products, if all of our dairy has to start coming offshore?
Do your bit Australia.
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Enjoy that glass of milo, have that scoop of cookies and cream, sneak a slice of cheddar and all the while think of how much you're helping fellow Australians keep their livelihoods by buying branded Australian dairy products.
Top Comments
Livestock and their byproducts account for more than 50% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions!! I think we're focusing on the wrong problem here. Personally I've stopped drinking cow's milk as its not natural to drink the breast milk of another animal and I find my health is better off without it. I've also stopped eating steak because I care about our planet.
It's not just about buying Australian milk - it's about buying the milk that is not associated with Fonterra or Murray Goulburn. That actually rules out a lot of the Aussie brands that people think are safe. The farmers are being screwed either way - we have to take a stand to not buy the milk that has been bought from farmers at a price that is actually costing them money to produce