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Thursday, December 17, 2020
Tom Vilsack returning as agriculture secretary
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Getting Out
By Mary Clare Jalonick Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has spent years, if not decades, telling his fellow Democrats they needed to do more to aid rural communities and reach out to them. But he has often lamented that no one listened. Now, he’s going to try again. President-elect Joe Biden nominated Vilsack, a former Iowa governor and Democratic presidential candidate, to return to his old job at the Agriculture Department, saying his eight years of experience there under former President Barack Obama would ensure quicker help to rural and poor areas that are “reeling” from the pandemic and economic downturn. “He wasn’t anxious to come back, he wasn’t looking for this job, but I was persistent and I asked him to serve again in this role because he knows the USDA inside and out, he knows the government inside and out,” Biden said of Vilsack, who just turned 70, as he introduced him and other members of his future Cabinet Dec. 11. “We need that experience now.” Reaction to his appointment was mixed. Reaction. Farm and antihunger groups that had a good relationship with Vilsack appeared pleased. Vilsack “has the necessary qualifications and experience to steer the agency through these turbulent times,” said Rob Larew, the president of the National Farmers Union. But progressive groups that had pushed Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge expressed frustration. Fudge has fiercely pushed to expand food aid in her long tenure on the House Agriculture Committee and would have been the first Black woman to lead the agency, which has a troubled his-
The milking parlor at Andreas Farms sits quiet and empty, Dec. 10, after years of being used almost round the clock to milk cows. The Andreases sold their milking herd in September. (Rachel Wagoner photo)
When going big in dairy isn’t enough anymore
When doing it all becomes too much
By Rachel Wagoner
By Rachel Wagoner
rachel@farmanddairy.com
rachel@farmanddairy.com
SUGARCREEK, Ohio — The milk parlor at Andreas Farms is quiet for the first time in decades. The last of the milk cows left the farm, on Sept. 21. “It’s always something in the back of your mind,” Dan Andreas said. “How do you exit the industry? You know it’s going to happen, whether you’re alive for it or not.” The Andreases got out of the dairy business this year, after more than 50 years of milking cows on their farm in Tuscarawas County. An opportunity came up to sell their entire milking herd all at once this summer, and they took it. Dan Andreas and his son, Matt, ran the dairy together where they milked 1,200 cows and farmed hundreds of acres. The decision was not an easy one, but in the end it was the right one. “My wife is like, ‘Good Lord, you’ve returned,’” Matt said. “Even my parents have said, ‘Your personality is back.’ Was I miserable doing it? Maybe. I guess I was. Negative prices year after year, and the people side of it. It’s hard.”
What Rebecca and JP Oravets were doing on their farm, in Rootstown, Ohio, was beautiful and romantic. They grazed their small herd of Ayrshire cows through the summer months and used the cow’s milk to make aged cheeses at their on farm cheese house. They did almost everything by hand, with their two young children growing up and running around alongside them. It was their dream to show that a small scale dairy farm could work, and they made that dream come to life through Old Forge Dairy. But living the dream was burning them out. They finally hit a wall this past summer. “The chores for the cows, it was probably six hours of our day was barn stuff, let alone cheese stuff,” Rebecca said. “A batch of cheese is a good 12+ hours of our day. It wasn’t adding up to enough sleep with two little kids.” After three years of doing it all, they sold their cows and began buying milk this year.
Good time, bad times
Things were looking up at the beginning of 2020, when
Running down a dream
The Oravets family’s story, “Portage County dairy makes it work with just 10 cows,” struck a chord with
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Volume 107 - No. 14 | Three Sections ©LYLE Ptg. & Pub. Co. - ISSN 0014826
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