Fifth-worst job: Newspaper reporter?

I'm sure there is a satisfaction component. But we're in the A-No.-1 business to know that satisfaction is often little consolation if circumstances are making it difficult to continue doing what satisfies you.

 

Dairy farmer is really shitty job. And I don't mean this as an insult to FJ or her dad.
It takes a really special person to be a dairy farmer and I am not one of them.

 

My grandmother's brother was one. At 75, he was kicked by one of his cows, got gangrene in his leg and died.

 

Damn guys, this is getting deppressing.

Honestly, I don't really remember any satisfaction components to dairy farming. I guess maybe the satisfaction of back-breaking manual labor? You do have some fun working outdoors, but it's usually under crappy conditions.

Thank god tractors have heat and air conditioning now. Back in the late 80s they were like ovens. Now they're like luxury vehicles.

 

Is the $35,275 salary before or after pay cuts and furloughs?

 

I still have that one, too, 10 years after I graduated.

 

Beiong your own base.

Producing something for the community.

Succeeding at a hard job.

Carrying on a family tradition.

Tending to the land.

These are all things dairy farmers have said to me.

 

My grandfather started out as a dairy farmer in 1950, but sold his herd and bought beef cattle after a few years. A beef/wheat farm is hard work, but he said it was nothing compared to running a dairy. He went from being up at 4 a.m. and working until he went to bed to getting up around 6 a.m. and working until early evening and was even able to take a short vacation every once in a while. I doubt he'd still be alive today if he stuck with the dairy.

 

Yes. This is the difference between being a dairy farmer and a farmer. No offense to Billy T, but I'm sure my dad would have traded this life for the life of a dairy farmer. He was heavily involved in other things -- the Polish Falcons, volunteer Fire Department, and the basics -- being a husband and father -- he would have gladly given things up.

Today, the only dairies that survive are the huge dairies that have at least 1,500 head. We had 100 -- including the little ones. When I was younger I knew the personalities of a a lot of them. It's how you didn't get kicked.

The huge dairies have tons of employees, so the owners can take vacations and have days off. They milk around the clock. They aren't stuck in the same stall all day like they used to be. It has forced the smaller dairies out of business, but overall it's for the good.

 

No offense taken, and you know your dad.

I can just tell you that the farms in out area (150-400 head or so) are run by people who like what they are doing.