(轉(zhuǎn)) 美國小型奶牛場在困境中求生存

矮子

Dairy farming has long been one the largest sectors of the New England region's rural economy and one of the nation's most highly subsidized industries. Still, many small family-run dairy farms have failed in recent years. Those that have managed to survive - sometimes just barely - have done so with a mix of technology and determination. 長期以來，乳品業(yè)一直是美國新英格蘭地區(qū)農(nóng)業(yè)經(jīng)濟中最大的組成部份之一，也是美國獲得補貼程度最高的產(chǎn)業(yè)之一。盡管如此，近年來還是有很多家庭經(jīng)營的小型牛奶場破產(chǎn)倒閉。那些想方設(shè)法生存下來的牛奶公司，往往是通過科技和決心這兩者的結(jié)合，才得以勉強闖出一條生路。

"Kuh Bahs! Kuh Bahs!" As Jacob Mills, 10, calls the family cows in from the meadows for their twilight milking, he knows that that call, or something very much like it, has been heard on this 161 hectare farm ever since his ancestor bought the Vermont land in 1839. While Jacob guides the cows into their stalls, he explains that he may want to become a farmer himself. "I like to be out in nature more than in a house. You get to do a lot of stuff, like clean the barn, bale the hay, stack hay." 10歲的雅各布.米爾斯在呼喚牧場草地上的奶?；貋?，開始黎明時分的擠奶。自從他的祖先1839年買下這座161公頃的牧場以來，這片土地上就時?？梢月牭竭@樣的呼喚聲。在引導(dǎo)奶?；氐叫髾诘臅r候，雅各布說，他本人也許希望將來當一名牧場主：“我有點想當牧場主。我喜歡到外面和大自然在一起，而不是呆在房子里。你要干很多活兒，象清潔畜棚，捆扎乾草，碼放乾草等等?！?

And, of course, you've got to know cows. With a sure and gentle hand, Jacob attaches the cows' teats to metal suction devices that convey their milk through a pipeline and into a shiny steel tank in one of the side rooms. 當然，你還得熟悉了解奶牛。雅各布的雙手熟練穩(wěn)當?shù)匕呀饘贁D奶裝置和奶牛乳房輕輕的連在一起。這種裝置通過一條管子，把擠出的牛奶輸送到隔壁房間一個閃閃發(fā)光的鋼制儲存罐里。

Meanwhile, in the sprawling white farmhouse next door, Catherine Beatty, 84, Jacob's grandmother and the matriarch of this clan, is setting out a huge homemade meal of ham, corn, milk, biscuits, macaroni, fresh fruit pie and coffee. Ms. Beatty notes that there have been mouths to feed on this farm ever since it opened, but that almost everything else has changed. 與此同時，在隔壁隨意搭建的白色農(nóng)舍里，雅各布84歲的祖母凱瑟琳.貝蒂正在把自己烹制的豐盛餐點擺放到餐桌上。這頓飯包括火腿、玉米、牛奶、點心、通心面條、新鮮的水果餡餅以及咖啡。貝蒂老奶奶說道，這座牧場自從建成以來，就一直有很多張嘴要吃飯，除此之外，其它的幾乎一切都變了。

"Just technology and advancement and better breeding, better cattle," she says. "When they first came on this farm they probably made butter. I know they did. And then we started shipping milk and then it was in cans, and now it's the bulk tank. And that's the way things change." Ms. Beatty says that, nostalgia aside; today's milk products are better. "It's cooled quicker, and it isn't exposed to the air, because it goes directly into the pipeline." 貝蒂說：“科技和進步，更先進的飼養(yǎng)方法，品種更優(yōu)的奶牛等等。當先人們剛剛來到這座牧場的時候，他們可能是生產(chǎn)制作奶油。我知道當時他們是生產(chǎn)奶油。之后，我們開始裝運奶牛到其它地方銷售，再后來是制作成罐裝牛奶，現(xiàn)在則是巨大的儲奶桶。事情就是這樣在發(fā)生變化。產(chǎn)品的質(zhì)量也比過去好得多，這和過去相比有了很大的不同。牛奶的冷卻更快，也不和空氣接觸，直接就進到管子里?！?br />
Beatty's extended family is seated at the dinner table. Beatty's daughter Gilly passes some corn, and says that she feels strongly about the farming life. "I think it's something in your blood. Agriculture is very important for our world. If you don't have good agriculture, how are we going to feed our people?" 貝蒂的女兒吉莉說：“我對農(nóng)牧業(yè)這一行確實有很深的感受。我覺得這種感受浸透到你的血液之中。農(nóng)牧業(yè)對我們的世界來說非常重要。如果沒有良好的農(nóng)牧業(yè)，我們將如何養(yǎng)活自己呢？”

Gilly remembers what a close-knit farming community this once was. She especially recalls the annual acorn roast with a bonfire every year on Diamond Hill behind the house. 她記得這個牧場的人們曾經(jīng)是怎樣的親密無間。她特別回憶起這座房子背后的鉆石山每年舉辦的橡樹果燒烤篝火晚會。

"Sometimes we've had like 30 people, and sometimes we've had as many as a couple of hundred, one time. Just anyone who wants to come can come." She motions to the west. "There used to be on the next hill over an old elm tree that you used to see from all over town. My grandfather would say if you could see the elm tree then you'd never be lost. But that died with the Dutch Elm disease that I guess struck all the elm trees." “有些時候我們有差不多30個人，還有些時候多達數(shù)百人。誰想來參加都可以。過去在旁邊的那座小山上有棵老榆樹，在那里你可以看到整個鎮(zhèn)子的全貌。我的祖父、我的父親會說，‘如果你能看到那棵榆樹，你就永遠不會迷路。’但是那棵榆樹最后死于荷蘭榆樹菌，我想當時所有的榆樹都曾經(jīng)因為這種病菌而遭殃?！?

Most of the dairy farms that once lay in the valleys below that elm mostly disappeared as well. Back in 1950, there were 40 or 50 in the township. Today, there are eight. 那棵老榆樹下的山谷中，絕大多數(shù)當年一片興旺景象的奶牛牧場現(xiàn)在也已經(jīng)沒有了蹤影。在上個世紀50年代的時候，小鎮(zhèn)有大約40到50座牧場，到今天，僅僅剩下8座。

There are several reasons for this. First, it is hard for a small dairy farmer to compete with the larger factory farms. Also, the once abundant farmland of Vermont is being sold off - mostly to development for housing, and that's dramatically raising taxes for the farmers who want to stay. Both Catherine Beatty and her sister Alice Hafner regret those trends. 這自然有其中的原因。首先，一個小乳業(yè)牧場主很難在效益方面和大型的工廠化奶牛飼養(yǎng)場競爭。其次，佛蒙特州曾幾何時非常充足的牧場土地資源正在紛紛被出售，絕大部份都賣給了住宅開發(fā)行業(yè)。而這種趨勢正在大幅度地增加希望繼續(xù)留下來的牧場主的稅賦負擔。貝蒂和她的姊妹蓋夫納都對這種趨勢感到遺憾和惋惜。

"It'll be all houses. Instead of cattle in the field, it'll be houses," warns Ms. Beatty. "I hate to see what is happening to Vermont because we are losing a lot of the beauty of this state," adds Ms. Hafner, "the land, the fields, the forest, the animals! That to me is what made Vermont." Both women acknowledge that people have to have a place to live, the population must grow. "And they have to make a decision if they want to keep it unique or if it wants it to be all developed," says Ms Beatty. 貝蒂說：“那些地方將到處都是房子。那些土地上不再有奶牛和其它家畜，取而代之的是一棟棟房屋?！?蓋夫納說：“我討厭看到佛蒙特州正在發(fā)生的這一切。因為我們將失去這個州的很多美麗景色。大地、田野、森林和動物！對我而言，正是這些東西造就了佛蒙特。我不是對現(xiàn)實不了解，我知道人口正在增長，人們得有地方居住 ?！?貝蒂說：“是讓佛蒙特州保持獨特風貌，還是讓土地都被開發(fā)，他們必須在其中做出抉擇。”

Ms. Hafner has a faraway look in her eyes, and I ask her if she's sad. "No I'm not sad," she says. "I'm just very happy I was born and brought up on a farm because I always felt that I learned good values. I was taught to work. But you had a good time doing it. Because you worked together." She adds that farm life also taught people how to get along well with their neighbors, and to share. "If there was a need you tried to fill it as best as you could. It was just a good basis for an adult life." 蓋夫納對這個現(xiàn)狀和發(fā)展似乎有些傷感，但她自己并不這樣看，她說：“不，我不覺得傷感。我恰恰感到非常高興自己在牧場出生長大，因為我始終覺得，我學(xué)習(xí)領(lǐng)會到良好的價值觀。我從小受長輩的教育，要勤勉勞作。曾經(jīng)有過勤奮努力的美好時光。因為大家一起勞動，同甘共苦。我們學(xué)到的另外一種美德就是要與鄰居和睦相處。如果別人有需要，你就應(yīng)該全力相助。這是一個成年生活的美好準則！”

For now, there continues to be a niche for some small farms like the Beatty's. Their farm is all paid for, and their milk goes directly to a dairy cooperative, where it is mixed with the produce of other small farms and marketed right alongside milk from the bigger factory farms. 目前，對一些象貝蒂老奶奶家的小型牧場來說，仍然有些發(fā)展的空間。 他們的農(nóng)場所有的產(chǎn)品都出售，他們的牛奶直接送到乳品合作社中，在那這些牛奶會與來自其它小農(nóng)場的牛奶混合在一起，然后同來自較大的工廠化農(nóng)場的牛奶一道在市場上出售。

Yet despite their success, the economic pressures on Vermont's small dairy producers continue to grow. It is an open question whether the deep connection these New England farmers have traditionally had with their animals and their land can be sustained. 盡管他們?nèi)〉昧顺晒?，但是針對佛蒙特州小型乳品生產(chǎn)者的經(jīng)濟壓力卻有增無減。這些新英格蘭地區(qū)的牧場主和他們的牲畜以及土地之間傳統(tǒng)上的深深聯(lián)系能否繼續(xù)保持，的確是一個有待回答的問題。

monica

果然厲害.領(lǐng)教了,受益頗豐.
1.Beatty's daughter Gilly passes some corn, and says that she feels strongly about the farming life.

貝蒂的女兒吉莉說：“我對農(nóng)牧業(yè)這一行確實有很深的感受。我覺得這種感受浸透到你的血液之中。

翻譯的很巧妙!;1s:

2.It is an open question whether the deep connection these New England farmers have traditionally had with their animals and their land can be sustained.

這些新英格蘭地區(qū)的牧場主和他們的牲畜以及土地之間傳統(tǒng)上的深深聯(lián)系能否繼續(xù)保持，的確是一個有待回答的問題。
功底很深啊!:)

矮子

Surely, but it's not what I translated.

Too pity!!!

矮子

If you don't have good agriculture, how are we going to feed our people?