I grew up on a diary farm in NYS.  I well remember meeting some Yorkshire
farmers in a bar in England and telling them we averaged 15,000 lbs per
cow.  They were incredulous; I'm certain they didn't believe me, but were
so polite they only said 'I'm surprised they can walk"!

Today, averages are well over 20,000 lbs, without hormones.  I keep bees on
a small dairy farm (milking 160 head).  A few years ago they were puzzled
because their then 190 head just were not producing what they should have
been.  Some guys from Cornell came in and said "They're stressed because of
overcrowding.'  'Not underfed,  but stressed.'  They reduced the herd by 30
head; *total* production went up (with 30 fewer head to milk) by 5%, and
average production per head went up by 15%!  Feed costs, of course,
decreased significantly.

Today they are really talking about cows needing bras.

With all the genetic advances, someday we will be able to really manage
bees and beekeepers will look at today's management as incredibly crude.
We can't stand in the way of science.

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