April 26, 2009 – Dairy Farmer Jon Clark went out to his barn to help with milking today and talked with me about his last days as a dairy farmer. He agreed to have his photo taken. He said he has done this work for 61 years, witnessed the birth of each of his cows, trained each one to nurse and drink.
 As we talked, other farmers and farmhands came by to talk about the difficulties of small family farms, how many have had to send their animals away during the winter because they had no money for feed, of government regulations that favor big corporate farms, and oppressive restrictions and regulations. “The time has come,” said a member of Jon’s family.
  “People like us just can’t do it anymore.”
  Jon was warm, soft-spoken, direct.
  He is devastated by the loss of his farm and by selling his cows, each one of whom he knows by name and temperament. “I just can’t tell you how sad I feel,” he said. He tried to keep Sable, his favorite cow, but he said his family talked him out of it. He said the Washington political community has abandoned the small farmer. He said he will be in the barn each day for the last week of his dairy farm. The last cows will be shipped out on Friday. It was a great pleasure to talk with this man and to see this kind of affection and dedication. He surely deserved better. It was also powerful to see and hear the other farmers and their struggles.
 I’ll see him tomorrow.