The 2%: Meet the Folks Who Feed the Rest of Us

People who drive want to know a little something about the automobile industry, right? And people who eat want to know a little something about how their food is grown or made. Take dairy, for instance. How do they take care of the cows? Where does the milk go when it leaves the farm? What motivates those farmers to get up before dawn?

And we have a right to ask.

But who do we ask? When I research a car I may buy, I call a guy who knows about cars. I don’t call someone else like me who just drives cars. So if you want to know about your dairy foods, shouldn’t you go straight to the source?

The problem is, you probably don’t know any dairy farmers.

Did You Know?

  • Less than 2% of Americans are involved in production agriculture today.
  • That’s less than 2% of the people feeding the other 98% of us, plus people in other countries!

Meet some of our DairyMAX Farm Families:

  • The McComas family in Oklahoma spend their days caring for a big family and 70-80 head of cattle.
  • The Meyers in Oklahoma raised four kids on the dairy-farm work ethic.
  • The van der Ploegs came to New Mexico from The Netherlands for the freedom to farm their way.
  • The Vasquez family moved their 3,100-Holstein dairy from California to Texas to give their kids more opportunities.
  • The Dickinson family has been farming in Colorado for over 100 years. 
  • The George family works together to raise crops, cattle and dairy cows.
By Susan Allen

Susan grew up on a farm in northwest Oklahoma and has over 30 years of experience working in agriculture. She has been part of the Dairy MAX team since 2007 and has worked with schools, health and wellness professionals and farmers. When she's not working, Susan is usually helping one of her kids with a 4-H project. Learn more about Susan

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