Declining dairies sour milk stats
The number of dairies in California has been declining for several years, and their loss is beginning to affect the state’s agricultural production figures. Braggin’ rights may be at stake.
About 20 years ago California’s dairy production officially surpassed that of Wisconsin, identified for decades as the “dairy state.” Ho hum, another California agricultural commodity achieved the top spot in the country. But now, facing the loss in dairy production may be about as hard to swallow as a glass of sour milk, as the industry barely clings to its number one position.
The loss is real. The California Dairy Research Foundation reports that the number of dairies in the state declined from 2,100 in 2001 to less than 1,400 today. Affected are large automated operations as well as older and smaller family dairy farms. Some have moved to other states, others have just quit operating, with their owners retiring, and a few have consolidated with neighbors or others. Because dairying has such a strong family tradition many intermediate sized operations are surviving as younger family members assume responsibilities, and bring ideas and impetus for change, improvements and upgrades. Dairying techniques and sciences rank high in California’s agricultural colleges.
Strength in the dairy industry also comes from the cooperative spirit among members of the industry. Marketing programs and structures for everything from whey to butter, powdered milk to ice cream operate within the industry. Established cooperatives are major factors in the processing and distribution of dairy products
Depending on your perspective, the primary cause for the loss of dairies is the price for milk at the producer level, which is stuck in low gear, or the incessant drive by legislators and state agencies to create new and costly rules. One of the most recent is a further reduction of methane levels that emanate from dairies. Forced wage increases have been devastating.
Dairy producers in other states, including Wisconsin, are increasing production rapidly. Neither pricing nor regulatory burdens are as great in any of them. At gatherings such as the World Ag Expo held in Tulare every February the out-of-state recruiters are as thick as flies. All of them can offer dairy owners dramatically lower costs of operating and noticeably less regulatory tinkering. Some of their offers approximate those made for a good quarterback by a major university.
But the reasons dairy production has concentrated in California over the past 100 years are inescapable. They begin or end with climate. It puts little stress on the cows (one reason they are so happy), and allows the production of hay, corn and other feeds. The availability of water and land to produce the feed crops is also a major advantage. When an offer to move your dairy to Nebraska or South Dakota is made, these are issues to contemplate.
Increasing pressure on the price that producers receive for milk is coming from countries abroad — China, Russia, Mexico, Central and South America. They are producing milk and all the dairy products because they are learning to produce them as Californians have done for years, with large dairies, automated systems for all operations from milking to bulk handling and processing to breeding and calf production.
Checking the label on your next cheese purchase might reveal that it was produced in Brazil. About 45 percent of all milk produced in California is used for making cheese. It makes for a competitive and global market. Other countries concentrate on cheese production, partly because none of them is accustomed to the consumer demand for liquid milk that exists in the United States.
Further diminishing production is almost a certainty. Hopefully it levels out before our request is not for one of the 33 flavors, but simply for “some.”