The sideshow continues: Coles claiming farmers are lucky to see milk sacrificed, animal activists making uninformed allegations of cruelty, vegans banging on about growth hormones (which are illegal here anyway).
Sitting in the stifling heat of the office and reading it all in one hit on one page tortured with anger, confusion and deceit, it is as if the world is against you.
So, with the kids asleep and only the crickets to keep you company, you step outside to fill your lungs with fresh, cool twilight air. And it feels like the world is yours.
My reality
No wonder so few farmers have an appetite to take their dairy lives beyond the farm gate.
The Milk Maid Marian 
Thanks for what you do Marian on this blog. It really does help me understand.
(that photo…now i am really jealous…)
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Thanks Ian – I hope so. I really appreciate your comments and questions. Please keep them coming. What’s next?
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Completely different subject but something i meant to ask a while ago Marian. I saw in the WT that some guy paid $90k for a dairy cow.
How does the maths work for this? Does she become some sort of stud cow (ie like a stud mare) or does she become (for want of a better term) a uterus on legs, pumping out as many calves as she can for sale? Can you even make $90k back from the offspring?
The other thing is – how you would you know you were getting what you were paying for. The paper said the cow won some sort of prize at a show but would there be figures on, say, fertility, milk production in the family line, lack of disease etc?
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I was as stunned as you were by the $90K cow. I assume she would have embryos flushed. She would certainly come with figures on her individual performance and those of her dams. Will see what else I can find out. The world of “showies” is often very different from “commercial” dairy farming.
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Also, I like this much more that any ‘dodgey’ car ads 😉
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Hang in there, yes, it can be hard work interacting with the public for sure.
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You’re indomitable, Lorraine! All hats off to you!
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Hear, hear! My happiest days are the ones where I can in good conscience step out to the barn instead of dealing with bookkeeping and regulation and all the tangled webs that hold me in the office.
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Such a different vista from the verandah of Northview Dairy but so lovely!
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Hi Marian. I’m a Canadian, married to an Aussie and I’ve been following you for a little over a year. I just want to say thank you for all your hard work and the effort you put into educating the general public about the dairy industry. Since we moved back to Aus six months ago, I’ve been spending the extra bucks to get the milk and dairy products that do right by our farmers, and encouraging my family to do the same. Without your blog, I most likely would have thoughtlessly purchased the cheapest milk. Cheers and keep up the good work!
Tina, Tahmoor Nsw
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Wow, great to hear from you, Tinan and thanks for following Milk Maid Marian all this time!
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Hear hear to that Christina, our MMM is indeed a superstar
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Perfect reply to the ‘dodgey’ superbowl ad:
http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/7rpq
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This one made me laugh out loud!
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Actually this one might just be a little more perfect…
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