Letter to the editor: Dairy farmers key to feeding future generations

I was disappointed to read the letter “Plant-based dairy products better for all” (June 13, TribLIVE), from the head of an animal rights organization who continues to disseminate misinformation about milk and dairy production.

As one of the owners of our region’s most forward-leaning dairy operations, I thought I would share a few facts and benefits of the dairy industry and the advancements that have been made.

Dairy farmers use 90% less land to make a gallon of milk than they used to while being at the forefront of conservation efforts to protect open spaces and wildlife habitat.

The modern dairy cow is amazingly efficient, digesting foods that people cannot eat and producing more milk on less feed than cows of just 20 years ago. For example, a cow consumes an entire cornstalk, from root to tip — not just the kernels. A survey by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy found that the average diet fed to dairy cows contained 80% human inedible feeds.

Milk produced on our farm is processed into cheese, or bottled for milk and sold within 100 miles of our dairy. Most nut juice products must be produced in drought-stricken California or overseas, and then trucked thousands of miles to local retailers.

One of the great challenges of the next generation will be providing locally sourced, nutrient-dense, affordable food to a global population expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050. Dairy farmers have a shared responsibility to future generations, and that begins with the production of high-quality, locally sourced milk.

Jason Frye

Unity

The writer is a co-owner of Pleasant Lane Farms.