this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
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Because dairy farmers are so indebted that even a small shortfall of revenue could mean ruin. The system can't stop or there will be massive financial collapse in that segment of the population. There needs to be a one-time government buyback of dairy assets if you want to end the cycle, and get these farmers out of their debt. Otherwise, the system will be perpetuated.
With our current economic system, that's not possible. It's set to privatize profits and socialize losses.
Failing is only for the poor.
Often dairy farming is a family business, and so you're born into it. These systems of subsidies are quite old, and so you have a lot of momentum. The debt, assets and revenues all pass over from generation to generation. It is hard to leave, and many do, mind you, through suicide.
https://www.suicideinfo.ca/local_resource/agriculture-and-suicide/
In democracies, farmers are a solid conservative block of support. Any discussion of removing their entitlements will unleash a wrath that the government can easily pay to avoid. I agree that large scale dairy is a problem, but I don't think government is going to help fix this by removing entitlements, rather by subsidizing the alternatives, and by offering bail outs to any dairy farmer who is willing to reforest their pasture, and sell that land back for conservation.
This problem, in particular, is very expensive to fix.
Fair enough. We could use the land to do reforestation or something and give former dairy workers first dibs on the jobs