A billboard recently placed along Ashland Avenue in Green Bay has people talking. Kris Schuller reports that’s especially true for dairy producers who the billboard appears to be targeting.
Near the corner of Ashland and Lombardi a billboard sits with a message directed at the dairy industry. Just three short words – “Dairy is Scary.”
The billboard was ordered by an individual named Rosco Perez – who we’ve been trying to contact with no luck. But the message isn’t appreciated by a dairy producer on this farm.
“I think it’s poor judgement to go out and spread inflammatory words like that,” said Dan Diederich who owns Diederich Farms.
Diederich has been a dairy producer since 2005, managing a herd of 540 dairy cattle in De Pere. He says his dairy isn’t scary and he is committed to caring for his animals.
“I don’t wake up at two in the morning to take care of a difficult calving because I don’t like animals – I care,” Diederich said.
Similar billboards have appeared in places like California, signs urging people to give up dairy products. But according to this dairyman – for all the wrong reasons.
“They are alluding to either one of two things. One that dairy isn’t good for you, which isn’t true. Talk to any registered dietician that has gone to school and learned that dairy is very good for you. Or they think our methods are wrong and cruel, which is also incorrect,” he said.
Diederich says it’s an attack on his career that is allowed under the First Amendment. But he wishes those who had a problem with dairy would express their concerns in face-to-face discussion.
“It’s very unfortunate that somebody would target one of the main economic drivers in our area and something that is quite frankly, a very nutritious and delicious food,” he said.
Source: wearegreenbay.com
