SACO — When Jim Leary graduated from high school in 1947, there were 50 dairy farms in Saco. When his son, Tim Leary, graduated from high school in 1977, there were 15. When Tim’s daughter, Alison Leary, graduated in 2007, there was just one ”“ the Leary family farm.

Jim Leary started the farm in 1947. He’s now retired, and the farm, which sells milk to Oakhurst, is run by Tim and Alison Leary.

The Learys recently sold just more than half the milking herd, and though they own some other cattle stock, they are down to 17 milking cows. As the weather gets warmer, they’ll get rid of more, said Tim Leary.

The Learys are in the midst of what Tim Leary calls “a slow-motion process” to close down commercial dairy operations. Tim Leary said he’s always loved dairy farming, and he never thought he’d leave it.

“We evaluated this for a long time,” he said.

The margin between the price of milk and the cost of production is getting slimmer and slimmer, he said.

Over the years, farming has run through a course of up and down cycles, however, he said it’s been going downhill for years, and he doesn’t see it going up anytime soon.

The cost of feed has skyrocketed to $500 a ton, due in part to a drought in the Midwest, he said. There are also other variables, like the cost of insurance, the price of equipment and veterinary supplies, and the cost to haul the milk to the production plant. Also factored in is sawdust, which at one time cost nothing, but, now that it’s become a source of fuel for bioheat, there’s a market for it and it’s costing the Learys $1,000 a month.

Tim Leary said he plans to switch over to vegetable gardening this year, an area of farming that he said has more flexibility.

He recalls a phone call with his sister in Delaware, who was very emotional when she heard about the decision to end the dairy operation. However, he seems to take it all in stride, and said he is at peace with the decision.

“I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s not an abrupt change. It’s a parallel track.”

The Leary family owns about 500 acres, and Tim Leary is raising his family on the property in a house next to where he was raised. The landscape will look pretty much the same, he said ”“ “It won’t be covered with condos.”

He said he still wants to be able to look out from his window and see open space. And, he said, they’ll keep some cows.

Alison Leary will continue dairy farming, and will start what her father calls “a boutique farm” in Arundel. She’ll milk about 15 to 20 cows, and make yogurt and ice cream.

“You have to diversify in order to make money,” she said.

Julie-Marie Bickford, executive director of the Maine Dairy Industry Association, said the biggest challenge for dairy farmers is financial. The federal government began regulating minimum milk prices in the 1930s, but the program, which was initially set up to protect farmers, has become a hindrance, she said.

Milk price minimums set by the federal government are very disconnected to what’s going on at the farm, she said, and come from a very complicated formula based on the price of dairy products on the Chicago mercantile exchange. The Maine Milk Commission has added cost adjustments for milk that is sold within the state, but it’s not nearly enough to keep up with rising production costs, said Bickford.

“One thing dairy farmers can’t do is not feed their animals. Their animals are their business partners. Financially, their backs are against the wall,” said Bickford.

Bickford said many farmers are tapping into their equity to keep operations going.

“I don’t think you’ll hear too many dairy farmers talking about profits,” she said.

Over the past 10 years, the number of dairy farms in Maine had gone from 460 to 306, she said.

Bickford said while a lot of dairy farms have tightened their belts over the years, most won’t go out of business unless they absolutely have to. All the farms in Maine are family owned, she said, so it’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle.

Dairy farmers are among the hardest working people, she said.

“There’s no pause button on a cow,” she said. “You’ve got to milk them twice a day.”

The hard work of running a dairy operation has certainly been part of life for the Leary family.

Jim Leary said he went 24 years without missing a milking.

“I never went too far from home,” he said. “The Fryeburg Fair was the limit.”

Jim Leary even milked cows with his leg in a cast for six weeks, with Tim Leary taking long weekends home from college to help out. And if he couldn’t afford something, he didn’t buy it.

Tim Leary said everything on the farm is paid for, and the family has not gone into debt, so it’s a good time to get out.

“I don’t mind working for nothing, but I can’t dig a hole,” said Tim Leary. He had to take on a part-time job to help put his daughter through college, he said, and he currently does not take a paycheck from the farm. His wife manages an emergency animal clinic in Portland.

As dairy farms have decreased, so have veterinarians who will treat cows, and Tim and Alison Leary have had to be resourceful.

When Jim Leary started out, there were local veterinarians on whom he could rely. Now, the closest veterinarian is in Turner, with a cost of $150 per hour plus travel expenses. Tim Leary said they have a monthly appointment with a veterinarian, who sets a day to come down to area farms, and they have the cows lined up and ready to be seen when the veterinarian comes.

Tim Leary said he and his daughter, out of necessity, have done some medical treatment themselves ”“ which is something his father did not have to worry about.

“We do stuff we have no business doing,” he said.

The two recalled a time when Alison Leary, at age 17, had to treat a cow with a prolapsed uterus, when her parents were on a vacation in Florida and an available veterinarian could not be reached. A prolapsed uterus, in which the uterus is pushed outside the body, can occur while the cow is giving birth. The cow must be treated soon after the condition occurs.

Alison and Tim Leary have also given injections to cows with “milk fever,” in which cows stagger or fall down due to reduced blood calcium levels.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or [email protected].