# farmers dump 43 million gallons of milk......\[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674 "2016-10-16T01:43:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/1 "2016-10-16T01:43:58Z")
don’t know if this counts as a food story…[MSN](http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/dairy-farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk/ar-AAiSuFb?li=BBnbfcL) I always thought the usda free food programs took the excess ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/2 "2016-10-16T02:11:39Z")
In the grand scheme of things, what’s the big deal about 43 gallons of milk? Or is the story that someone cried as a result? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/3 "2016-10-16T02:25:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In the grand scheme of things, what’s the big deal about 43 gallons of milk? Or is the story that someone cried as a result? There’s a missing 6 orders of magnitude that make this story slightly more relevant. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/4 "2016-10-16T02:35:03Z")
Yeah, I think the title should be changed to “43 million”. I remember back in the day when it was quite common for milk to be dumped because the price was too low to make it worth the price it cost to send to market. Back when there was “govt. cheese”. Which made the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever! Even then I thought it was sickening but realized farmers have to be paid. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/5 "2016-10-16T02:57:11Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > Yeah, I think the title should be changed to “43 million”. > > I remember back in the day when it was quite common for milk to be dumped because the price was too low to make it worth the price it cost to send to market. Back when there was “govt. cheese”. Which made the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever! > > Even then I thought it was sickening but realized farmers have to be paid. We had a “gummint cheese” thread here several months back. The consensus was: you’re 100% correct–superb cheez. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/6 "2016-10-16T03:02:32Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > I always thought the usda free food programs took the excess They do buy some of it, as mentioned in the very article you linked to. > [@](#): > > On Tuesday, the USDA pledged to buy about $20 million of cheddar cheese to help struggling dairy farmers, the second time it has intervened in the market in less than three months. But there’s only so much government cheese you can give away. The farmers over-produced, now there’s a glut. Not much you can do about that except try to be more careful in the future about your demand forecasts. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/7 "2016-10-16T03:12:38Z")
ok I asked for a title change heh I didn’t even see that until now … ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/8 "2016-10-16T03:22:35Z")
I love moo-juice–Heck, 43 gallons is my average daily intake. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/9 "2016-10-16T03:28:09Z")
I edited the title to 43 million gallons ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/10 "2016-10-16T03:34:35Z")
Welp, now I look like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/11 "2016-10-16T04:24:22Z")
I feel like it would have been a more useful metric to say something like, “Enough milk to cover 30 million families for one week”, rather than using the number of Olympic sized swimming pools that could be filled. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/12 "2016-10-16T04:40:48Z")
of course all the anti dairy people filled the comments under the article … When did that start ? I know some people always been that way concerning how they treat the cows but saying milk and sugar are 2 of the biggest poisions around ? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/13 "2016-10-16T04:45:26Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > of course all the anti dairy people filled the comments under the article … > > When did that start ? I know some people always been that way concerning how they treat the cows but saying milk and sugar are 2 of the biggest poisions around ? Yup, dairy, sugar and gluten are the “in” things to avoid right now. :rolleyes: Even if you’re not lactose intolerant, celiac or diabetic. Apparently they’re all poison. No, I don’t get it either. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/14 "2016-10-16T04:48:17Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > Yup, dairy, sugar and gluten are the “in” things to avoid right now. :rolleyes: Even if you’re not lactose intolerant, celiac or diabetic. Apparently they’re all poison. No, I don’t get it either. These people are clearly loony. That’s why my diet consists solely of ice cream cones now. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/15 "2016-10-16T05:17:43Z")
If milk and sugar are poison, I’ve been dying a slow, lingering death for years. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/16 "2016-10-16T05:59:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Welp, now I look like an idiot. Oh yeah, _NOW_ you look like an idiot…😛 ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/17 "2016-10-16T06:00:45Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If milk and sugar are poison, I’ve been dying a slow, lingering death for years. Haven’t we all? except for those that died quick, I suppose ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/18 "2016-10-16T17:53:08Z")
Well, since I am both diabetic and lactose intolerant, I don’t mind if it’s fashionable to avoid those things these days. Hey, I was fashionable before it was fashionable! 🙂 However, back to the OP, if farmers are dumping that much milk it seems just possible that there are more dairy farmers than the market can support. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/19 "2016-10-16T18:17:41Z")
In other news, 43 million kittens shave their heads in mourning. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674/20 "2016-10-16T18:21:47Z")
My uncle bought all his young calves from a local dairy. He bottle raised them on formula and eventually fattened them up on grain and hay. He took the steers to auction when they were almost a year old. He always sent one steer to the meat packer for the family freezer too. 😃 Dairies don’t have to sell calves. They can predict when market demand for milk will be down. The dairy can keep them and let the calf nurse from mom. Eventually sell the year old steers at auction. Selling beef is an extra revenue source. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-milk-edited-title/768674.md?page=2)