Dare we?

Given competition from the mega-farms; the rising cost of property, oil, transport, corn and grain; consolidation of processors and cooperatives; the federally set milk price; it's no wonder more and more Maine dairy farms are closing their valve to the milk vat for the last time and the upcoming stewards of the land are considering other options.

At present it is estimated that Maine has 305 dairy farms. As with a lot of farming and fishing in Maine, the dairy industry remains dominated by family farms. Since 2000 Maine has lost 194 dairy farms, many because there just aren't family members coming up the ranks to take on running the farms. As such, the farmers get older (the average age of Maine dairy farmers is thought to be north of 60 years old) and as they survey what is often a multi-generational legacy they are faced with the fact that they may well be the farm's final generation.

Three dairying families shared their day to day with me during the spring of 2011: Dave and Christy Spencer and their children Lilli, Albert, Catherine and Edy; Basil Barnes and his partner Marvel, son Ricky, cousin Dawn and her son John; and Carolyn Howard and her son Jim. The farmers currently working these farms will likely be the last generation. It seems doubtful any of them will retire. They'll keep working until they can't. One thing is for sure, the next generation will ask "Dare we?". The answer will invariably be "no".