No matter what part of the country you farm in, weather conditions will always be a challenge.
Brutal winters and frigid temperatures tend to plague parts of the North while the scorching sun and fearsome winds curse areas in the South. Out East, torrential rains and intense humidity cause frustration while blazing temps and bone-dry conditions wreak havoc in the West. And if you find yourself living in the central part of the U.S., well, you probably experience all of the above.
Mother Nature has never taken it easy on farmers, and she likely never will. Producers, however, have learned to adapt to the challenges she presents and overcome the hurdles she places in their paths. Two dairy farmers from opposite ends of the country share how they push past the trials and tribulations Mother Nature throws their way.
Beating the Heat
Located within the Central Valley in Gustine, Calif., Tony Lopes serves as the operations team leader for his family’s multisite facilities: Tony L. Lopes Dairy L.P. and P&D Dairies. Working alongside his parents, Paul and Darlene, Lopes helps manage roughly 4,000 Holsteins cows, 2,500 head of Angus-Crossbred cattle and farms close to 2,100 acres of corn, oats, wheat, sudangrass and alfalfa.
“Here in the north part of the Central Valley, we typically have mild winters,” Lopes says. “Generally, the rainy season [during early spring,] doesn’t impact us too much aside from a few scattered storms that can impact our pen conditions. Toward the later part of spring leading into summer is when we start to worry about how hot it gets and, more importantly, for how long.”
Nearly 2,500 miles away in Clermont, Ga., Scott Glover, owner of Glo-Crest Dairy, knows all too well the mild temperatures experienced in spring are short lived.
“In mid- to late April and into early May is when we start to get hot,” Glover says. “And unfortunately, the humidity isn’t too far behind. That’s our biggest challenge here in Georgia. We get down into the 20s and 30s during the winter, and sometimes even down into the ‘teens,’ but when it starts to heat up, the humidity shows up fast.”
Though the thermometer seldom climbs past 100°F in the Peach State, the heat index easily surpasses this. Fortunately, Glover is no stranger to battling the heat. For his 180 cows to perform at their peak potential, cow comfort has to be top of mind. Heat stress leads to a drop in milk production, and for Glover, who owns and operates Mountain Fresh Creamery, a loss in production can have a significant impact on his bottom line.
“In 2000, we had an opportunity to rent a farm here in Georgia and buy some of those cows, so we took that chance,” Glover says. “In 2011, we were able to purchase some land, so we decided to build the creamery, and that’s why we are still in the dairy business today. It’s been a blessing for us. It allowed us to buy 115 acres here in Clermont to build and renovate a new dairy facility.”
The new operation, which was previously an old dairy that operated in the 80s, needed a bit of TLC before it would be able to house any cattle. A new parlor was constructed, older buildings were retrofitted, and a new state-of-the-art freestall barn was built with cow cooling in mind.
“To produce the kind of milk that we want to produce, you have to take care of the cows,” Glover says. “We could milk 50 or 60 more cows here if we wanted to, but we don’t like to overcrowd, especially when it’s hot out. During the cooler months, our cows get let out at night, but we like to keep them in during the summertime. They get to stay under the fans and the misters, and they get to lie on waterbeds, so they’re as content as a cow can really be here in Georgia.”
Out West, keeping cows cool and comfortable also becomes a top priority for Lopes as mild spring temperatures quickly ramp up going into summer.
“Summer is always hot, so prepping for the heat is key,” Lopes says. “From an infrastructure standpoint, shades and soakers are everywhere. Our relative humidity stays pretty low, so we’re able to efficiently keep cows comfortable with evaporative cooling. We don’t have fans everywhere, but we do utilize them primarily in the holding pens while the cows are waiting to get milked.”
With four facilities to manage, keeping up with building maintenance can be a bit of a chore.
“Over the years, we’ve prioritized upgrades to our older facilities,” Lopes says. “One thing we noticed is that we needed to provide more water availability and improve the cleanliness of the drinking water, so that is just one of the upgrades we’ve made over the years.”
Precipitation, or Lack-Thereof
Both Lopes and Glover share similar tactics when it comes to handling high temperatures, but when it comes to dealing with rain, the similarities end.
“For the past few years, we’ve experienced extreme drought in California, and it’s been a huge challenge for farmers,” Lopes says. “The majority of our surface water comes from snow deposited on the Sierra Nevada mountains, and then as it melts throughout the spring and the summer, it fills up the reservoirs, dams and canals. Before the drought, producers, regardless of where they were farming, would have traditionally had abundant access to that water. And then just in the past two decades, the regulatory pressures have really clamped down on how much water is available. Now add a drought on top of that, and there’s just that much less water to go around.”
Lopes is fortunate in the fact that he lives in one of the strongest water zones in the state. A different story unfolds 20 miles south.
“Down there, you’ll hit some of the worst water rights in the state,” Lopes adds. “There’s no doubt that the snowfall and rainfall haven’t been there the past few years, but when you add in the man-made component of less water rights, it gets frustrating. Farmers don’t have enough water to grow their crops or forage, so the prices go up on everything. Farmers can’t find enough quality feed, and if they do, they have to pay out the nose for it. So, the drought, along with the government regulations, is creating a tough situation for producers, farmers and ranchers. And it’s a real shame.”
In Northeastern Georgia, it’s not uncommon to receive 50" to 55" of rainfall in a year. That’s a stark contrast from 15" to 20" typically received in Lopes’ neck of the woods.
“We expect quite a bit of rainfall each year, but for the past several years we’ve probably been pushing over 70",” Glover says. “Our biggest challenge is when we have these thunderstorms, the wind and the rain blow into the barn and soak the stalls. When that happens, we have to go in and add sawdust to the stalls. If we don’t get that cleaned up quickly, then we’ll start to see some issues with mastitis.”
Reliable Management
Despite the challenges Mother Nature constantly throws, both Glover and Lopes agree solid management practices are what keep their facilities moving forward.
“When we start to see signs of heat stress in the herd, our margin for error goes down,” Lopes says. “From a management standpoint, we know there are things we have to get right. Keeping cows comfortable, providing access to feed, not making drastic ration changes or keeping cows locked up for too long — all of those things add up, and we want to minimize unnecessary stressors. We must make sure that we’re doing all we can to put the cows in the right condition and position to perform. We know we’re going to battle heat stress, but what can we do to mitigate that? For us, it’s infrastructure plus management to help those cows have the foundation they need to get through the summer.”
Glover relies on a strong management foundation to get his animals through the challenging seasons.
“You can’t control the forecast you’re dealt, but you can control how you respond,” he adds. “You learn new things each year and
each season, so it’s important to take what you learn and bring it with you into the next year. For us, it’s all about creating a routine that we can stick to that will keep the cows happy.”
From coast to coast, each season brings new challenges, but how each farmer responds is what determines their profitability down the road.
“Each year brings a different set of challenges,” Lopes says. “But we do the best we can with what we’ve got and always try to move forward. Learning from our successes and mistakes is what helps us get better from season to season.”
Tony L. Lopes Dairy L.P. and P&D Dairies
From a young age, Tony Lopes knew he was destined for a career in the dairy industry. After graduating from Cal Poly in 2018, Lopes returned home to the farm to assist his parents at their multisite locations. In 2020, Lopes propelled his career even further when he launched two different businesses, sustainiBeef LLC and Precision Genetic Solutions LLC, where he raises high-quality, Angus-crossbred beef cattle for consumers and offers genetic consulting and semen distribution to progressive dairy producers.
Glo-Crest Dairy
Scott Glover grew up working alongside his grandfather, father and uncle on the family dairy farm. He and his wife, Jennifer, along with their daughter Eliza Jane and son Layne, continue to provide that same quality care today. The family puts that same love and care into their Mountain Fresh Creamery products. The operation specializes in providing premium cream, milk, butter and ice cream products to its customers year round.
