> A sense of community ? Do you mean that a 50 cow farmer in Wisconsin
> belongs to the same community as a 10000 cow farmer in California ? I
> dont think so. What a sense of community does is generate attitudes that
> are local and parochial. Those attitudes are what prevent co-ops getting
> the mass they need to influence a market through commercial power. You
> are extremely fortunate to have �Capper-Volstad �and equally stupid not
> to use that advantage. Instead of �taking control of your own future you
> seem happy to use the vagaries of your political system which gives
> power in the senate to rural America way out of proportion to its
> population base.
>
> Agricultural co-ops are hindered Internationally by the doctrine that
> comes out of the ICA, an organisation dominated by people who see
> co-operatives as a means to achieve social and political ideals whereas
> farmers need a co-op that delivers financial performance. Don't blame a
> lack of leadership in your co-ops, you get the leaders you deserve, the
> problem is the outdated attitudes of the members.
This evaluation of milk marketing reminds me of the "Blind Men and the
Elephant". One blind fellow bumped into the side and thought the elephant
was like a wall. Another got a hold of the tail and thought it was very like
a rope. A third blind man stumbled against a leg so the elephant seem very
like a tree in his opinion.
Why is understanding US milk marketing an important issue to you?
I feel you are only part way along on your journey to understanding, but If
you do figure it out, you'll see that it just comes down eventually to supply
and demand.
Incidentially, Capper-Volstad doesn't trump supply and demand.
All these Machiavellian dairy laws, government organizations, and producer
owned coops aren't able to overcome supply and demand. That just happens.
What they do partly succeed at, is to buffer price flucations for the benefit
of consumers and producers.
Seemingly the more Machiavellian the system, the more stable is the price.
Attempts, to impove (simplify) the law in recent decades, have been counter
productive in that the whipsaw in price is now somewhat greater than in
earlier decades.
--
Kindest regards,
========================
F. W. Owen
Owenlea Holsteins
9430 Spencer Road
Homerville, Ohio 44235
e-mail fwo@bright.net
home page http://www.bright.net/~fwo
voice & fax 330.625.2369
cell 330.635.2287
========================
