WSJ Article Gives New Meaning to Dairy Bubble
A dairy farmer spent $150,000 to line his open manure pit with plastic only to have it detach and form huge bubbles of gas from the 21 million gallons of decomposing cow manure. The article at WSJournal that describes his predicament offers a telling window into the current plight of many large scale dairy farmers. It also offers these astounding statistics:
How Much Manure Does a Dairy Cow Produce?
- 148 lbs. per day
- 1,036 lbs. per week
- 4,440 lbs. per month
- 54,020 lbs. per year
In light of the complexity of the situation facing dairy farmers it seems weird to me that many think
the answer for the industry is for more farmers to use rBST. It sounds
too much like someone saying the answer for the current mortgage mess
is to further leverage the market.