Dairy Science 375

Our class meets on Wednesdays 4:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. in room 209 An. Sci. Bldg. Below is the tentative course schedule for Spring 2013. From this page, you can download readings and handouts, and —after login with your UW-Net ID— access the study guides: quizzes and mini-essays, as well as the blog page for each day of class.

Synopsis: Today in class we will introduce the course and this website where you will find all the materials and information you need to be successful in this course. We will take the time for everyone to introduce themselves

Synopsis: World population estimates now are much lower than "The Population Bomb" idea of 1968 previously thought. With fewer people being born and living longer, many countries are facing a workforce crisis as population structures get top-heavy with retirees, and not enough young people to replace them. The environmental impact of an expected 3 billion extra people in the world will depend on human behavior, not in the numbers.

Readings and Resource Materials: Demographic "bomb" may only go "pop" | Old in the Way and Hard at Work | A Green Globe, May Be | Practice Quiz

Optional Materials: Future-Food-Production-Systems.pdf | Global-Migration-Environment.pdf

• What factors contributed to the reduction in world population estimates from 12 billions down to 9 billions by year 2050?
• What were the breakthroughs that contributed to double life expectancy in the 20th century?
• Predict at least two consequences of the fact that population growth in no longer a global issue, but rather a regional issue, with rapidly increasing population in some parts of the world and declining population in others.
• The “A Greener Globe, May be” article argues that urbanization may help the environment. Explain the pluses and the minuses of having more people living in urban areas on the “global environment".
• Have you heard of "sustainable development"? What does "sustainable development" mean to you?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of letting “young” people from “poor” countries emigrate to “older and richer” countries to fill in the increasing gap in the labor force?
• What are the alternatives?

Synopsis: Americans (that is, Citizens of the United States of America) are big consumers and we really like to eat meat. Along with other developed countries, U.S. residents consume the world's resources at unsustainable rates. Developing countries are fast following in our footsteps, but the world cannot sustain human populations if everyone consumes at the same level as we do. How do we make sure that the additional 3 billion people by 2050 can live a decent life without destroying on the planet's natural resources?

Readings and Resource Materials: Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler | The Carnivore's Dilemma. | What is your Consumption Factor | Practice Quiz

Optional Materials: Environmental Cost of transporting food around the world.

Synopsis: After discussing broad world wide issues, we start focusing now on the situation in developing countries. This first reading will set the stage for the next two weeks' discussion on the Livestock Revolution

Readings and Resource Materials: Roles of Livestock in Developing Countries (Herrero et al., 2012) | NO Practice Quiz AVAILABLE YET

Synopsis: With increasing "middle class" population (i.e., number of people with higher incomes an living standards) in developing countries, there is greater consumer demand for meat and milk products. In many developing regions, national production does not currently meet national demand for meat and milk. This discrepancy provides a livelihood opportunity for the rural poor in developing countries. The term coined by international experts of the World Food Organization (FAO) as the Livestock Revolution refers to the potential (if governmental policies are set correctly) to alleviate rural poverty and foster strong rural economies in developing countries, by helping small holders (poor farmers) to serve their own national market for meat and milk.

Readings and Resource Materials: Meating and Milking Global Demand: Stakes for Small-Scale Farmers in Developing Countries | Practice Quiz

Optional Materials: Rising Consumption of Meat and Milk in Developing Countries Has Created a New Food Revolution

• What are the three main factors that drive the increase in milk and meat consumption currently observed in developing countries?
• Analyze and draw two of your own conclusions from the data presented in Table 2.
• After reading the article, imagine that you are an agricultural policy adviser to the President of the United States. What advice would you give the president for the U.S. to take advantage of the world growth in the dairy sector?

Synopsis: Livestock agriculture is very diverse between developed and developing countries. In many regions, livestock have different roles on farms and contribute more to the livelihood of the farmers - especially resource poor farms - than just a source for meat and milk products.

Optional Materials: Enabling food sovereignty by understanding factors that marginalise peasants and lead to poverty and hunger

Optional Reading Materials: Animal Herders of 23 Lands Meet and Swap Stories | Discussion
Optional Presentations: Roles and Contributions of Livestock in Developing Nations (a 5.5 MB pps file) | Chinese Agriculture and Dairy Industry

• What are some of the differences that may explain why livestock are generally less productive (lower milk yield, lower growth rate, etc.) in developing countries than in developed countries?
• Given what we have discussed so far in class, use your own words to define what is a "resource-poor farmer".
• Earlier in class we have discussed the three pillars of "sustainable development": economic aspects, social aspects and environmental aspects. Given what we have discussed so far in this class, provide one example of how Livestock contribute to each of the three pillars of sustainable development.

Synopsis: Free trade does not necessarily mean trade that is equal and fair. More often than not international trade benefits corporate agribusiness, which receives billions in taxpayer subsidies over small farmers, and guarantees continuing poverty and a harvest of bitterness among third-world farmers.

• Explain the resentment that exists among farmers in poor countries towards U.S farmers and agribusiness? Is this justify or not?
• What is the WTO? What does it do?
• What is the IMF? What does it do?
• Free trade versus fair trade? If not fair, what's the problem? What would you do to fix the inequalities in international trade?

Synopsis: Like in many other developing countries entering global trade, there have been definite winners and losers in the opening of Mexico's economy, especially under NAFTA, or the North American Free Trade Agreement (between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada). At the same time Mexico sees an increase in market opportunities, it also faces environmental degradation, a loss of biological genetic diversity, and a rise in economic and food insecurity among its people.

Readings and Resource Materials: Mexico Rises (3.6 MB) | Why Mexico's Small Corn Farmers Go Hungry | Science and Culture Clash in a Mexican Staple: Corn | Practice Quiz

Optional Materials: U.S.-Mexico Corn Trade During the NAFTA Era: New Twists to an Old Story | Summary

Food for Thought:

• What are some of the major factors that have contributed to the “rise” of Mexico according to Dale McDonald, the author of the article?
• The article compares the Old (street markets) to the New (The “Gigante” grocery chain). What does the “New” provides to customers over the “Old”?
• Using the information presented in the article (or your best educated guess), describe a “typical customer” of (a) the street market, (b) the Gigante grocery stores and (c) the Café des Artistes in Puerto Vallarta?
• List at least three barriers that prevent the small resource-poor farmers to move ahead and improve their conditions.
• What is the "immigration fix" proposed by Tina Rosenberg?
• Why did the discovery of genetically modified corn set off such an uproar in Mexico? What does this story tell us about the U.S. - México relations?
• Explain why the most important cause of the loss of genetic diversity to maize varieties in México is the loss of people from the Mexican countryside.

Synopsis: One result of NAFTA is an increase in immigration between Mexico and the U.S. But not all Mexican immigrants coming to the U.S. are equal and not all of them are poor. Demographic and economic changes in Mexico in the early 1990s encouraged Mexican migration to the United States. However, future demographic and economic shifts - an aging population reaching retirement age and a growing economy meaning more jobs available domestically - are likely to stem some of the numbers of emigrants in the long run.

View and Read: Guatemala: In the Shadow of the Raid — U.S. immigration raid leaves lasting mark | Interview with Carlos | U.S. Government's crackdown on Illegals.

Reading: | Tomato King Story | Migration: The Mexican Evolution | Practice Quiz

Optional Readings: "Fixing the Immigration problem". | Mexicans Who Came North Struggle as Jobs Head South | Mexicans Who Came North Struggle as Jobs Head South.

Optional Audio: Listen to a visiting scientist from Mexico who learned for himself stories of illegal immigrants who live in the Mexican Neighborhood of Chicago in the spring of 2012. (Smaller audio-File)

Food for Thought:

• Why did the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers decided to raid the Postville Meat Plant?
• What are the contradictions / implications associated with the United States decision to build a 700 miles border fence?
• Why was Mr. Bermudez, ("Mr. Tomato!"), disqualified from running for office three years ago?
• Why would the couple from Milwaukee bother traveling to Mexico for a local election?
• Should Méxican immigrant who sent "large" remittances to their Mexican community back home, have the right to vote and (or to run for office?
• What are two consequences of the predicted decrease in Mexican immigration to the US in the next decade?
• What should we do about the six million Mexican living illegally in the United States?
• What do you think (illegal) immigrant "really" want when they cross the border to come in the United States?

Synopsis: The U.S. agricultural industry relies heavily on immigrant labor for everything from picking produce to milking cows. Dairy producers and Latino workers have formed an interdependent relationship; at the same time they need each other, they sometimes have a hard time "understanding" each other.

Readings and Resource Materials: The original US News video on the federal agents raid of the Sandhills Dairy (North Dakota) has been removed, but an alternative video was posted later at the "Bad Cop" channel as: Operator Raided, Owner unhappy | Los Braceros: Lost in the Heartland | Practice Quiz

Optional Materials: What should we know about cultural norms? | Economic Impact of Migrant Workers on Wisconsin's Economy.

Food for Thought:

• Manufacturers of certain goods (e.g., clothing or electronics) can move their manufacturing operations from one country to another fairly easily where ever low wages and local regulations allow them to compete on a global scale - Why then shouldn't a farmer who cannot easily move her operation to another country, be allowed to "import" cheap labor from other countries?
• Although the article indicates that Felipe and Benicio have been on Mike Anderson's farm for more than three years, it describes employees with little loyalties and employers with no qualm "stealing" employees from other employers. Provide as many reasons as you can identify (as indicated in the text or outside of the text) to explain the lack of trust between employers and employees as described in this article.
• How would you characterize the variety attitudes of Hispanic workers as described in this article?
• Imagine you are the editor of the magazine and you decide to change the title of the article because no one will know what a "Bracero" is anyway. After reading the article and thinking about carefully, give it a new title and explain your choice in a short paragraph (2-3 sentences maximum).

Synopsis: There is a large disparity between Mexico's national milk consumption and production; Mexico's dairy industry cannot supply consumer demand for milk. Through NAFTA, the U.S. dairy industry has been able to take advantage of Mexican's national milk deficit and has exported products to Mexico, historically mostly in the form of non-fat dry milk, but more recently in the form of value-added products such as ice cream and cheese. For the first time in 2011, Mexico imported more than $1 billion of dairy products from the U.S.

Readings and Resource Materials: A 2012 Bird's Eye View of the Mexican Dairy Industry | A look at the Mexican Dairy industry between 2004 and 2008 A study of the Mexican Dairy Sector (please read executive summary pages 1 & 2 only) | Highlights of a 2002 study of Mexico's Dairy Industry Under NAFTA | Practice Quiz.

For class activity: NAFTA background handout.

Optional Materials: USDA-Economic Research Service Mexico - U.S. Agricultural Trade Statistics (May 2011) | USDA-Foreign Agricultural Services North America Free Trade Agreement- Agricultural Fact sheet (January 2008) highly recommended | Will Mexcio become self-sufficient? | USDA report on the Changes in the U.S. Dairy Sector 1991-2002 | The Dairy Industries of Mexico, Central America, Argentina and Brazil

Food for Thought:

• The dairy product imported in the greatest amount in Mexico is NFDM (non-fat dry milk), which is used for reconstitution into fluid milk for sale to low income at subsidized price. Yet, the executive summary of the 2002 study indicated that self-sufficiency for NFDM increased considerably as importations as a proportion of amount consumed dropped from 91% in 1994 to 44% in 2001. Do you think that the importation of NFDM by Mexican processing companies help or hurt the Mexican dairy industry?
• It is estimated that Mexico’s dairy farmers produces 75% of the country’s milk requirements. The situation in Mexico is such that we could have a “livestock revolution” in which milk production by smallholders may be a way to help alleviate rural poverty while fulfilling a national need. What would it take for the small resource-poor dairy producers of Mexico to benefit from this potential market?
• In the U.S. we often assume that consumers buy the cheapest possible foods. Can you explain why in the Mexico City market, U.S. fluid milk and ice creams are priced 42 and 60% over the same products of Mexican origin?

Synopsis: Even as Mexico's dairy industry is changing and evolving along a similar path as the U.S., towards larger and more specialized dairy farms with higher production capabilities, Mexico's agriculture industry is still dominated by diversified smallholders and subsistence farmers. Livestock and the way they contribute to a farm's livelihood depends on the farming system in which the farm belongs.

Readings and Resource Materials: The Contribution of Livestock to Small Holder Livelihood: The Situation in Mexico | San Felipe Slide Show - Other Species | Alculco Slide Show - Dairy | Practice Quiz

NEW !!! — Should I Buy a Milking Machine? -- A Case Study of technology adoption by smallholder dairy producers in the highlands of central Mexico (notes: requires Java script).

Optional Materials: Mexican Dairy Industry in Pictorial Review of Dairy Systems

Food for Thought:

• Use Google to search a definition and learn about “Ejido”. You can use any of the following key words: “land tenure Mexico” or “ejido land tenure”. Provide a definition of \"ejido\" in the form of a citation (i.e., provide the url (website address) and the “author” or “authority” for the definition.
• Results of the project described in the article indicated that small holders in the ejido of San Cristóbal have incorporated dairy production into their farming system (see Table 7.3 and page 109-110). In contrast, smallholders in both sites of San Felipe del Progreso have not adopted dairy production to the same extent (see Table 7.1; Table 7.2, and pages 105-106). What are some of the reasons for this difference according to the authors?
• How do the authors describe the economic (and other) benefits of dairy production for the small holders in the ejido of San Cristóbal and in San Felipe del Progreso?

Synopsis: Mexico's dairy industry is characterized by three main dairy production systems: dual-purpose, familial, and specialized. Because each system has its own characteristics as well as being regionally diverse, Mexico lacks a national dairy policy and industry structure.

Optional Materials:  Mexican Dairy Production and Support System: A National Perspective (Translated from "Lechería Familiar Factores de Exito Para el Negocio. Escoto et al., 2001) | Presentation: Jenny Blazek: Survey of Mexican Dairy Farmers