The Dairy Dilemma
Meet the Ideal Dairy Farms family. They own a dairy farm in beautiful upstate NY, near the Vermont border. For six generations, the Ideal Dairy family has been happily caring for their herd and producing quality milk to sell in the local markets. This, however, has not exempted them from feeling the effects of a national trend in the dairy industry – low milk prices and rising farm costs. In combating this trend, Ideal Dairy Farms, and farms all around the area have been experiencing economies of scale – being forced to grow larger, diversify, or go out of business. As you explore the challenges experienced by the Ideal Dairy Farms family you will learn how they are focusing on economic, social, and ecological factors to address the challenges and carry on the tradition of the family farm.
Catlin Goodwin
Catlin Goodwin is an Agriculture teacher at Granville Jr./Sr. High School in upstate New York. She earned her BS in Agricultural Education from Wilmington College in Ohio and her MS in Community Sustainability from Michigan State University. Catlin enjoys sharing her interest in the interconnected relationships throughout the agricultural systems with the students in her food science, plant science, and agricultural business classes.
Participant School & Location:
Granville Jr./Sr. High School
Granville, NY
Below is an interactive presentation on the diary dilemma. You can click through, read slides and also watch and listen to several videos to learn about the challenges in the dairy industry today and how some are adapting.
