The current slump in milk prices is a concern, of course, to Logan County dairy farmers, Tim, Lee and Lyn Davidson, but “it goes in cycles,” Lee stressed with a shoulder shrug.
Members of the Farm Family of the Year include, from the left, Tim Davidson, his granddaughter, Laura Davidson Sniffen, and his sons, Lyn Davidson and Lee Davidson. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | REUBEN MEES)
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Milk prices were $23 to $24 per 100 pounds when the Davidsons built their new dairy barn three-and-a-half years ago. Now, the prices have dropped to between $13 and $14 per 100 pounds.
It’s just part of the business of farm life, which is all the father and sons have ever known.
They have been named the Bellefontaine Examiner’s Farm Family of the Year.
Tim’s parents, Louis and Alma Davidson began milking cows in 1932 in Pemberton in Shelby County and bought the present farm south of Quincy along State Route 235 in 1948 when Tim was a junior in high school. At that time, the family was milking Jersey cows. They switched to registered Holsteins in the 1950s.
All the cows are registered with the prefix Ladson View which is the name the grandparents christened the farm from their initials and the last syllable of their last name — LAD — and perfect for including SON, Tim, into the family operation. While that is the registered farm name, the family now refers to it as the Davidson Dairy.
“It’s all I’ve ever done,” said Tim upon joining his sons’ conversation, coming out to the barn on a John Deere Gator. “It’s a way of life and there have been a lot of changes.”
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