Illinois ag officials are greenlighting a large-scale dairy operation in the northern part of the state near Nora.
From what I’ve read about the project, I’m not necessarily opposed. I was interested to see comments from other dairy farmers who believe a large-scale farm spearheaded by
California businessman A.J. Bos might actually help them too because the large farm would support other businesses that cater specifically to dairy operations.
Illinois dairy farmer Doug Block tells Illinois AgriNews that, “The livestock industry needs people like A.J. Bos to come to Illinois so that we can maintain our infrastructure like our feed people, veterinarians, and machinery people.”
Block, who’s been in the dairy biz since 1972, also says that in the last decade, some 10,000 cows in this area have been lost as dairymen go out of business. “So we’ve lost more cows than this dairy is even proposing to bring in.”
It’s also the first I heard how much dairy was being transported into the state from across the country. It seems those Wisconsin and Indiana dairies aren’t producing enough to meet demand.
Opponents of the 10,000 dairy cow farm already have filed in court, so the farm isn’t a done deal.
I’m not optimistic they’ll be too successful.
Virtual Farmgirl 