Let’s get the cause and effect right. Small dairies are shutting down because factory farm milk production is rising and flooding the market. https://twitter.com/startribune/status/1197624223256190989

Bozic's comments, coming from a supposed public servant (at a public university), are vile. Factory farm supporters never seem to get tired of victim-blaming the farmers that their preferred model destroys.

"Efficiency" is not a guiding value in itself. Producing more milk on fewer farms may be "efficient," but it is terrible for the land and rural communities, and therefore is not acceptable.

Stewardship, justice, democracy, community -- those are guiding values. A good food and farming system should support and uphold those values. One that is "efficient" at the cost of everything else is deeply unethical.

If it is "efficient" to lose ONE in TEN of our state's dairy farms in a single year, than clearly that "efficiency" comes at far too high a human cost. Our public officials do not have the right to look away from people's pain.

Stopping the loss of the small- and mid-size dairy farms that sustain countless Minnesota rural communities fundamentally REQUIRES stopping the expansion of massive factory dairies. @GovTimWalz, #mnleg -- what are you going to do about this?

"Pulling Together, Moving Forward," LSP's member statement on the current farm crisis, includes this demand of our state-level officials in MN: "4) A moratorium on massive dairies over 1,000 animal units. " https://landstewardshipproject.org/posts/1239 

Con't: "The Governor must instruct ... MPCA to pass a moratorium on issuing permits for construction of any dairy over 1,000 animal units until the water pollution threat posed by these large operations and the price-depressing effects of overproduction are both addressed."

What percentage of Minnesota's dairy farms would the administration consider acceptable to lose during its tenure? (Yes, there are also federal-level forces at play, but there's no excuse for our state government not to act boldly.) https://landstewardshipproject.org/posts/1239 

Oh, and @mnmilk continues to be part of the problem. If they’re not willing to oppose factory farms like Riverview, then they need to stop pretending to support small and mid-size dairy farms. Those groups have directly opposed economic interests. It’s impossible to be for both.

The commodity groups are operating on the idea that all producers of a certain commodity, no matter their scale, must have the same interests. The problem is that just isn’t true.

Does @mnmilk think it’s a good thing that Minnesota lost 10% of our dairy farms in 2018? If not, what actions are they willing to take towards reversing that trend? The “it’s inevitable” line is simply a dodge.

Acting like the number of COWS in the state is more significant than the number of FARMS or FARMERS is a really quick way to betray that you don’t actually care about farmers.

The existence of many, smaller-scale farms supports other local businesses and keeps money circulating in rural communities. It is not just about how much milk is produced, it is about how many people can have livelihoods.

The “efficient” consolidated model of several thousand cows per dairy is based on not caring about any of that. “Efficiency” is only your highest value if you don’t think it matters whether farmers or anyone else in farming communities can have decent lives.

And of course this model is also based on not caring about the risk of catastrophic environmental harm due to the manure of thousands and thousands of cows being concentrated at one site. Or the daily harm to neighbors who live next to these factories.