Dairy Farming In Vermont

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I am interested in the transitions of dairy farming in Vermont. In the 1950’s-1960’s, dairy farming was using advanced machinery. The farmers were mechanizing the dairy farms. Because of this, a lot of these dairy farms grew bigger, and they made more dairy products. The small dairy farms do not have enough machinery, because they could not afford it. The small farms had to be shut down due to a shortage of money to keep the dairy farms running.

Vermont heavily relies on the production of dairy farming. It is estimated that, “dairy annually accounts for 70-80 percent of Vermont’s agricultural sales, making it the number one state in the United States in its dependency on one commodity” (Parsons 1). Since Vermont’s agricultural sales are so dependent on dairy, the farms that produce these products are expected to perform well. The farms that are producing dairy products have become larger in order to produce dairy at a faster pace. This type of responsibility puts a lot of pressure on the workers of these farms.
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In the past, migrants were not getting paid enough, because they were being mistreated by the farmers. Even today forty percent of migrant workers, “are not earning Vermont’s minimum wage, and 40 percent have no day off” (Nink 1). There have been many campaigns in an attempt to stop this mistreatment of migrant workers. Ben and Jerry’s Global director of social mission, Rob Michalak says, “our whole mission and value system, it’s to ensure people in our supply chain have a dignified life” (Greenhouse 1). Ben and Jerry’s makes it a part of their mission to provide a good environment for their

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