Tom Park's letter (Readers' Forum, May 1) ticked me off. He needs to do his homework and find out the facts.

"Blessed are the farmers and dairymen" — they work 12 to 14 hours a day every day, rain or shine, sick or in good health, raising feed, milking cows, cleaning barns and a dozen other jobs. Never a day off, and vacations are unthinkable.

In the '40s, we had a small dairy herd. Cans of milk were picked up every day by truck and delivered to Cloverleaf Dairy. We were paid for the milk by the dairy, but the cost of trucking was deducted from our check. By the mid-1950s, we were so far in debt we had to sell the cows and get a job outside of farming.

There are no small dairymen left. One has to go into the dairy business big to make a dime. We build our new homes next to them and then force them out because we don't like the smell. More money can be made by selling the land than trying to run a dairy. The farmer, cattlemen, chicken ranchers or the dairymen are not the ones who make money; it's the middleman. That has not changed.

B.C. Smith

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Draper

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