California

The Year of the Woman Farmer: Becky Nyman’s Global Impact and Local Roots

Mon, 04 May 2026 12:51:01 GMT

In the quiet, early morning hours in Hilmar, Calif., the air is thick with the familiar scent of a working dairy. For Becky Nyman, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, this is the center of her universe: a multi-site, family Jersey dairy operation. And, while her boots are firmly planted in the California soil, her vision is fixed on a horizon that spans continents.

Nyman is a woman of two worlds. In one, she manages the complex regulatory and employee landscape of a high-performing dairy operation alongside her brother, Brad. In the other, she sits at the head of the table as the first female chair of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), representing the interests of U.S. producers in high-stakes trade discussions from Paris to Beijing.

Her journey is more than a personal success story; it is a blueprint for the modern dairy leader — one who successfully bridges the gap between the family farm and the global marketplace.

The Road Back to the Farm

Like many farm kids, Nyman’s path wasn’t a straight line back to the barn. After graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and earning a master’s degree in agribusiness from Texas A&M, she spent nine years in the corporate world. By her late 20s, she was living in San Francisco, commuting to a downtown office and building a career far removed from the farm landscape of her youth.

“I didn’t realize being on the farm was really an option until I was 30,” Nyman recalls. “My dad was talking to me and said, ‘You know, there’s a place for you on the dairy if you want to come back.’”

It took time to process the shift, but in 2011, Nyman traded the city skyline for the family corrals. She joined Brad, who had moved straight into operations after college. Their partnership is a study in complementary strengths: Brad handles the daily operations, while Nyman leans into the regulatory and employee side of the business.

“I tell people I try my best to be a lawyer and an accountant,” she says with a laugh. “And I still need help from real lawyers and accountants, but that’s the role I fill on our family farm.”

(Photo by Becky Nyman)

A Culture of Perseverance

To understand Nyman’s leadership style, you have to understand Hilmar. It is a dairy-centric community where the spirit of cooperation is woven into the history of the land. It is where Hilmar Cheese was born from the shared vision of Jersey dairy farmers who saw the value in their milk’s unique components.

“Hilmar is special,” Nyman says, nodding that is where her family ships their milk. “My 90-year-old uncle recently told me that, growing up, his dad would make him go milk cows for the neighbor after her milked his own cows because they needed the help. That’s what community does — you use your strengths for the overall good.”

That sense of community is anchored by a single word that has echoed through four generations of Nymans: perseverance.

“It’s the first word that comes to mind,” she explains. “My grandfather was an immigrant who made his way to California. Every family gathering, we heard stories of perseverance. In international trade, that translates easily. You win some, you lose some, and the path is hard, but you keep going for the betterment of the industry.”

The Farmer’s Voice at the Global Table

When Nyman sits down with USDEC, she often finds herself in a unique position. In rooms filled with policy experts and corporate executives, she is often the only active dairy farmer — or one of a very few.

“Having that perspective of being on the ground is my strength in the room,” she says. “People want to hear the reality of it. They want to hear what it’s like from the source of the food. In theory, certain trade ideas look good on paper, but I can speak to the practical challenges facing the American dairy producer.”

One of her “aha” moments came during a high-level trip to China. While meeting with the Ministry of Commerce, Nyman chose to speak not just of logistics, but of community.

“I talked about how dairy farmers and agriculture, in general, have more in common than we do different all around the world,” she recalls. “One of the ministers actually took my comments and folded them into his own. He used my words to find common ground. It was an eye-opening moment — he heard me, and he realized that our shared interests were stronger than our disagreements.”

(Photo provided by Becky Nyman)

The 2026 Export Landscape: Year of the Woman

And in 2026, the work of USDEC has never been more critical. The year started with a bang, showing year-over-year double-digit growth. U.S. milk solids equivalent volume increased 12% in January — the biggest January on record. This growth was driven by cheese, butterfat and a surprising surge in nonfat dry milk.

At the recent 2026 USDEC Annual Membership Meeting, Nyman felt a renewed sense of optimism.

“Trade creates opportunities for farmers to stay on the farm and for future generations to return to it,” she told members.

The meeting highlighted several key themes Nyman is bringing back to Hilmar:

Exports are Essential: With 96% of the global population living outside U.S. borders, exports are the key to price stability and long-term growth.
The Fat Boom: Rising butterfat levels are creating both complexity and opportunity for global competitiveness.
The Protein Craze: The world’s hunger for nutrient-dense, sustainable protein — from whey to high-quality milk proteins — is not slowing down.

Perhaps most meaningful to Nyman was the recognition of the International Year of the Woman Farmer. As the first woman to lead USDEC, she views the milestone through a lens of service rather than status.

“I’m humbled about being named the first female chair,” Nyman says. “I try not to think about the title as much as just trying to do as much good as I can for our producers.”

This mindset of action over accolades is what she hopes to pass on to others.

“For many young women, opportunity starts with seeing what’s possible — and seeing themselves in it,” she says.

Her advice to the next generation of women in Hilmar and beyond is simple but brave.

“Say yes when opportunities come your way, even if it’s uncomfortable or you don’t think you’re qualified. Lean forward and never stop learning,” Nyman says.

(Photo provided by Becky Nyman)

Sustainability and the Future

In Hilmar, Nyman is practicing what she preaches on the global stage. Her operation is part of a digester cluster, where neighboring dairies came together in 2024 to share resources and infrastructure for renewable energy.

“We do what makes sense for the business,” she says of her sustainability efforts. “We do what is feasible. When I’m on international trips, I share the framework of our FARM program. It helps the world understand that we have a structure of responsibility, but I also tell them we do these things because we want to be responsible, not because of a mandate.”

The Bottom Line: It’s All About People

Whether she is navigating a complex regulatory filing in California or a trade barrier in a foreign capital, Nyman believes the dairy industry is, at its core, a people business.

“The people involved are equally, if not more, important than the cattle,” she says. “Navigating how to provide a stable working environment and fulfilling careers for our employees translates directly to trade. We are providing ingredients for industries in other parts of the world to grow and create jobs there. We are a reliable source for what they need to feed their people.”

Nyman’s journey from the family corrals to the global stage is a testament to the power of a unified voice. She serves as a reminder that the resilience of the dairy industry is fueled by families who persevere, communities that collaborate and leaders who aren’t afraid to say “yes” to the daunting, yet rewarding, work of feeding a growing world.

As she moves forward in her role as USDEC chair, Nyman remains focused on the “why” behind the work: ensuring the next generation of Nymans — and the next generation of U.S. dairy farmers — have a clear and sustainable path back to the land.

Engineering the Future: How One California Dairyman Uses Worms to Innovate

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:10:37 GMT

In the heart of California’s Central Valley, where the heat of Stanislaus County shimmers over vast stretches of almond hulls and corn silage, the rhythm of Alberto Dairy has remained constant for more than four decades. It is a rhythm of early mornings and the steady hum of a milking parlor. But beneath the surface of this traditional landscape, a quiet revolution is taking place — one powered by millions of earthworms and a third-generation farmer’s commitment to a legacy built on sacrifice.

Anthony Agueda, the grandson of Portuguese immigrants Antonio and Maria Alberto, doesn’t see sustainability as a corporate buzzword or a modern trend. To him, it is the natural evolution of the heavy lift his grandparents began in 1981. Today, as he stands at the helm of a modern dairy operation, Agueda is proving the path to the future isn’t always paved with complex machinery. Sometimes, it’s found in the simple, elegant systems of nature.

(Photos provided by Alberto Dairy)

A Foundation of Sacrifice

To understand where Alberto Dairy is going, one must understand where it started. In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, the Alberto family wasn’t just building a business; they were chasing the American Dream with a level of intensity hard for the modern world to comprehend.

“My grandpa told me that when he came to the United States, he was working three jobs and went seven years without a single day off,” Agueda reflects. “In our workflow today, if we go seven days without a day off, it’s tough on us. But for them, it was about survival and building something for the generations they hadn’t even met yet.”

That old school value of sacrifice remains the North Star for the dairy. Antonio and Maria, now in their late 70s, still participate in the daily life of the farm. They didn’t just pass down land and cattle; they passed down the understanding that the cows always come first.

“You don’t just clock in and out,” Agueda says. “You go home when the work is done. My grandpa and my dad taught me that from the time I was a young kid feeding calves.”

The Third-Generation Pivot

Every generation of this California dairy family has faced a different challenge. For Antonio, it was the physical labor of the wheelbarrow and the struggle to establish a foothold. For Agueda’s father and uncle, it was the introduction of genetics, breeding and the early days of digital record-keeping. For Agueda, the challenge is navigating a landscape defined by environmental regulation and the urgent need for resource efficiency.

“Sustainability has always been there,” he explains. “A farmer has always left the land better than when they inherited it. It’s just that each generation adapts differently. Mine is focused on environmental sustainability — removing nitrogen and carbon and protecting our water.”

While many California dairies are looking toward methane digesters to meet state mandates, Agueda’s family found themselves drawn to something different. They wanted a system that mimicked God’s creation — something simple, effective and low maintenance.

(Photo provided by Alberto Dairy )

The Power of the BioFiltro

The solution came through a partnership with Nestlé: the BioFiltro system. It is a vermifiltration (worm-based) system that manages gallons of water every single day.

The concept is deceptively simple. Manure from the flush lanes is separated into solids and liquids. The liquids are then sprinkled over massive “worm beds” covering nearly 8 acres. As the water percolates through the beds, millions of worms and specialized microbes go to work, consuming the carbon and nitrogen. In about four hours, the water emerges on the other side, stripped of its contaminants and ready to be recycled.

Agueda recalls the light bulb moment when he visited a similar system in Washington State.

“The owner had a bucket of manure water from before the system and a bucket from after. He held the ‘after’ bucket up, and you couldn’t smell a thing,” he says. “It looked like clean water. If it were slightly clearer, you’d think you could drink it.”

For Alberto Dairy, the BioFiltro wasn’t just an environmental win; it was an operational one. Mechanical systems are expensive and prone to breaking down. The worm beds, however, are gravity-fed and require minimal energy.

“We liked the simplicity,” Agueda says. “In 25 years, who knows what digester technology will look like. But this? This is just natural filtration.”

(Photo provided by Alberto Dairy)

Better for the Land, Better for the Cow

The benefits of the system have rippled through every aspect of the farm. The treated water, now low in the sludge that used to clog irrigation valves, is used to fertilize crops more efficiently. But a surprising benefit was found in the barns.

“Our mastitis cases have gone down significantly,” Agueda notes. “Because the water we use to flush the lanes is so much cleaner and has less bacteria, the cows are healthier. That’s an economic benefit because medicine is expensive, but more importantly, it’s about animal comfort. A cow that isn’t sick is a cow that’s out in the stalls enjoying herself.”

This focus on cow comfort is a hallmark of the modern Alberto Dairy. From mattresses and fans to a specialized nutritionists and regular hoof trimming, the technology on the farm serves one purpose: making sure the animals are thriving.

(Photo provided by Alberto Dairy )

Future-Proofing the Central Valley

The regulatory environment in California is notoriously difficult. Between the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and strict methane reduction mandates, many farmers are choosing to leave the state.

By implementing the BioFiltro system, Agueda is proactively addressing the concerns of regulators and consumers alike. The system provides precise data on water usage and carbon reduction, which is used for carbon credit verification.

“It shows the public that dairies are the solution, not the problem,” Agueda asserts. “We aren’t just farming for regulators; we’re farming for the future.”

Alberto and Agueda Family: (Back row left to right) Aidan Alberto, Khloe Alberto, Kristen Alberto, Brian Alberto, Diane Agueda, Tony Agueda, Anthony Agueda, Megan Agueda, Lillian Agueda (Front row left to right) Maria Alberto, Antonio Alberto, Nathan Agueda

(Photo provided by Alberto Dairy )

The American Dream, Realized

As Agueda prepares for his upcoming marriage and looks toward raising a fourth generation on the farm, the weight of the legacy feels less like a burden and more like a gift. He uses his agricultural business degree from Fresno State to handle the bookkeeping that once burdened his grandmother, while still spending his days in the sun, vaccinating calves and helping to manage the herd.

If you asked his grandfather 40 years ago if he would one day be farming millions of worms to protect the atmosphere, he would have laughed. But today, as Antonio looks out over the fields he built from nothing, he sees a grandson who hasn’t forgotten the value of a day’s work.

“They truly achieved the American Dream,” Agueda says of his grandparents. “They started from the bottom, built a business and now they get to see it evolve. They’re proud because they know the land will be here for their great-grandchildren.”

In the end, the story of Anthony Agueda and Alberto Dairy is a reminder that the most profound innovations aren’t always found in a computer chip. Sometimes, they are found in the soil, in the tireless work of a million worms and in the enduring strength of a family that refuses to let their dream die.

Data, Dirt and the 100-Year Legacy: Inside Rib-Arrow Dairy’s Tech Revolution

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:08:22 GMT

In the heart of Tulare, Calif., where the Central Valley sun can push the mercury past 110°F and the mud of a rainy season can challenge even the sturdiest boots, Tyler Ribeiro is conducting an experiment in mediocrity-free farming.

Ribeiro is the fourth generation of his family to steward a dairy legacy that spans over a century. Since 1994, the family has operated at the current Rib-Arrow Dairy site, but the operation today looks vastly different than the one his grandfather managed. With 1,500 milking cows, 1,000 Holstein-Angus crosses for beef and 800 acres of farmland, Rib-Arrow is a high-octane intersection of traditional animal husbandry and cutting-edge silicon.

Tyler Ribeiro

(Rib-Arrow Dairy)

“I am not one that likes to settle for mediocre,” Ribeiro says, standing in the middle of a barn designed with the precision of a wind tunnel. “We are pushing the systems we have, and we’re learning as we go. I haven’t got paid enough to tell you all the good things and none of the bad — we’re going through it as it is.”

(Rib-Arrow Dairy)

The Cow-Centric Blueprint

Walking through Rib-Arrow, it becomes clear every piece of steel and every line of code is centered on the cow’s perspective. This philosophy starts with the physical geometry of the barn. Ribeiro’s father and grandfather designed the entrance to the milking parlor to be narrow, widening as it opens up.

“It’s like being in a tunnel behind a big rig,” Ribeiro explains. “If you can’t see what’s in front of the truck, you’re hesitant. The way this is set up, as they’re walking in, they can see around the cow in front of them. It helps their load time speed up dramatically.”

Comfort is equally engineered. Along the top of the barn, an array of fans and cooling soakers manage the California heat. But these aren’t just on-off switches. The system uses eye-to-eye sensors. If a cow isn’t in a specific area, the cooling grid shuts off to conserve resources. In a closed-loop nod to sustainability, the water used to soak the cows and clean the lanes is captured from the cisterns used to cool the milk.

(Rib-Arrow Dairy)

Seeing the Unseen: The Locomotion Revolution

Perhaps the most significant bite Rib-Arrow has taken in recent years is the implementation of Nedap SmartSight vision technology. For a hands-on dairyman like Ribeiro, admitting that a camera can see better than a human eye was a hurdle, but the data has been undeniable.

“A lame cow used to be something you could see — she was limping,” Ribeiro says. “But the camera showed us we have problems with feet long before there is a limp. It’s like wearing the same running shoes for a year on concrete. That subclinical pressure on the joints, ankles and knees starts a decline we can’t visually pick up until it’s too late.”

The impact is most visible in first-lactation animals. These bulletproof heifers often hide discomfort, but the vision tech caught the subtle crooked gait that leads to chronic issues. At the start of the program, lameness prevalence in first-lactation cows was 6%. Today, overall and severe lameness rates have been slashed to just 2% — one-third of what they were.

Precision Management in the Cloud

The vision tech doesn’t work in a vacuum. It is paired with Nedap activity monitoring collars and the Cow Locating system. This tech stack allows Ribeiro’s team to not only receive an alert that a cow needs attention but to pinpoint her exact location in the barn. This data flows into NedapNow, a cloud-based platform that provides real-time insights.

Ribeiro has even refined the software’s parameters to match the biological reality of hoof healing.

“We found that a 31-day hold time wasn’t enough for a hoof to grow out and heal. We’ve moved to a 41-day sweet spot. If she’s still flagging after that, we know we need to look deeper.”

This level of precision changes the economic math of the dairy. Ribeiro points to a high-producing cow the system flags frequently.

“The guys ask why we keep bringing her in. I tell them, for a cow like that, I’ll pay $7 a month in maintenance to keep her in the herd and keep her comfortable,” he says. “We’re aiming for old cows — high-producing, healthy veterans.”

(Rib-Arrow Dairy )

Automating the Dirty Work

While the cameras watch the cows, other automated systems handle the grueling maintenance tasks that traditionally lead to labor fatigue. Rib-Arrow has used HoofStrong automated foot baths since 2015. Running five days a week and rotating between Formalin and a proprietary copper/zinc formula (LQA), the system is entirely self-contained and self-cleaning.

“It doses via schedule to keep the potency where it’s supposed to be, and then pressure pumps the manure and product out at the end of milking,” Ribeiro notes. “It keeps my people away from the chemicals and ensures the protocol is executed perfectly every single time.”

Even pest control has gone high-tech. Ribeiro uses a three-pronged approach to flies: baits, parasitic wasps and an automated flash-spray system. The sprayer, triggered by sensors as cows pass through, provides full-body coverage without wasting product or requiring an employee to stand in a cloud of spray.

The Human Element and the Future

Despite the heavy lean into automation, the human element at Rib-Arrow remains remarkably stable. Most of Ribeiro’s outside crew has been with the dairy for over a decade. The technology hasn’t replaced them; it has empowered them.

“The system shines a light on things you’d look at and say, ‘She’s healthy,’” Ribeiro says. “Now, we have to educate ourselves on what the data is actually saying. My guys have tablets in their Kubotas. My breeder has a tablet. We’re all looking at the same real-time truth.”

Ribeiro, a self-described “computer geek and data nerd,” isn’t finished. He’s already planning to install Nedap’s pass-through ID system in the parlor to replace older RFID tech that struggled with “noise.” This will pave the way for Nedap’s SmartFlow milk meters, closing the loop on individual cow performance data.

As Rib-Arrow Dairy moves toward an average lactation of 2.7 and beyond, the goal remains the same as it was 100 years ago: healthy cows and a sustainable business. The difference now is that Tyler Ribeiro has a digital eye in the sky and a mountain of data to ensure the next 100 years are even better than the last.

“I hate it when people show up and say, ‘You’re doing a great job,’” Ribeiro concludes. “Show me where I’m missing. Show me the holes. That’s what this technology does — it shows me where I need to work.”

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The Man Behind the Lens: Why Alberto Dairy’s Biggest "Influencer" is a 77-Year-Old on a Tractor

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:30:00 GMT

In the heart of California’s Central Valley, where the golden haze of the sun meets the sprawling green of silage corn, a quiet but profound collision of worlds is taking place. For the tourists, corporate executives and social media influencers who visit Alberto Dairy in Stanislaus County, the draw is almost always the “new.” They come to see the 400,000 sq. ft. BioFiltro system — a high-tech marvel where millions of red wiggler worms silently process 1.7 million gallons of wastewater every single day.

They arrive with high-definition cameras, drones and a preconceived script of what a modern-scale dairy looks like. They expect a sterile, corporate-managed facility, perhaps something resembling a Silicon Valley startup but with more cows. They are prepared to document the future of farming — a world of sensors, carbon credits and automated precision.

But as the lenses focus and the drones take flight, the visitors almost always encounter a reality that doesn’t fit their digital storyboard. Just beyond the gleaming pipes and the meticulously managed worm beds, a 77-year-old man in a dusty cap is usually out in the field, expertly maneuvering a tractor to push dirt or level a lane.

That man is Antonio Alberto. And while the visitors are looking for the future, Alberto is the living embodiment of the foundation.

(Alberto Dairy)

The Corporate Myth Versus The Family Reality

“They think they’re going to show up to some big corporate facility,” says Anthony Agueda, the third-generation farmer who helps lead the dairy today. “But then, they look over and see my grandpa on a tractor, pushing feed as they drive by. That’s the biggest surprise they get — realizing this isn’t what they thought it was.”

The shock on the visitors’ faces is a testament to a widening gap in public perception. To many outside the industry, a modern dairy must be a faceless corporation. But in California, 97% of dairies remain family-owned, and Alberto Dairy is a prime example. The houses where the family live — Agueda, his parents, uncle, cousins and grandparents — are all within walking distance of one another. The corporate office is often a kitchen table where three generations debate the merits of new technology.

(Alberto Dairy)

When visitors see Alberto on his tractor, Agueda takes it as an opportunity to stop the tour and tell the real story. He tells them about the teenager who arrived from the Azores, a small group of Portuguese Islands, with nothing but a relentless work ethic. He describes a man who worked three jobs and went seven consecutive years without a single day off to save the money to buy his first cows.

“My grandpa hates leaving the dairy; it’s his life,” Agueda tells them. “He’s in a position where he doesn’t have to work on the dairy, but he still does. He’s out there because he loves it.”

(Alberto Dairy)

A Legacy That Can’t Be Filtered

The contrast is striking. On one side of the farm, millions of worms are managed by sensors that report nitrogen and phosphorus removal. On the other side, a man who started his career with a wheelbarrow and a pitchfork is still doing some of the heavy lifting.

This duality is the secret to Alberto Dairy’s success. The family isn’t adopting technology for the sake of being high-tech. They are doing it to protect the legacy Alberto built. The BioFiltro system, which reduces methane emissions by up to 90%, isn’t just a win for the environment — it’s a shield for the farm’s future. It allows the dairy to stay in California, a state with some of the strictest environmental regulations in the world, ensuring the fourth and fifth generations will have a home.

Agueda recalls the lightbulb moment when he realized the worms were the right path. They had traveled to Washington State to see a similar system, skeptical something so simple could handle the waste of thousands of cows.

“The owner held up a bucket of water before the system and a bucket after. I put my face right to it and couldn’t smell a thing,” he says. “It was clean.”

That simplicity — mimicking “God’s creation,” as Agueda puts it — is what won over the family. It wasn’t a complex mechanical system that could break down and require a team of specialized engineers to fix. It was a natural, gravity-fed system that aligned with the “keep it simple” philosophy Alberto had practiced for 40 years.

(Alberto Dairy)

The Real Influencer

While the tourists are fascinated by the worm water and the science of vermifiltration, the most impactful part of the visit is often the realization the farm is still run by people who know their cows by name and their soil by heart.

Agueda loves hosting people with no dairy background because it allows him to humanize an industry that is often misunderstood. He shows them the big farm they feared is actually a family business where the founder still gets his boots dirty every day. He explains the technology — the RFID tags, the automated cooling soakers and the worm beds — is all about one thing: cow comfort.

“A cow that isn’t sick is a cow that’s out in the stalls enjoying herself,” Anthony says. He points out since the BioFiltro system began cleaning the flush water, mastitis cases have plummeted. The cows are healthier, the water is cleaner and the soil is richer.

As the sun sets over Stanislaus County, casting long shadows across the worm beds, the tourists pack up their gear. They came for the technology, but they leave talking about the man on the tractor. They came for a story about industrial efficiency, but they leave with a story about the American dream.

Antonio Alberto doesn’t have a social media account. He doesn’t know what a follower count is. But as he pulls the tractor into the shed at the end of another long day, he remains the most influential figure on the farm. He is the proof that while the tools of the trade may change from pitchforks to precision sensors, the heart of the dairy industry remains exactly where it has always been: in the driver’s seat of a tractor, held steady by a family that refuses to let their dream fade.

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California Reopens Dairy Cattle Shows Following HPAI Ban

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 17:01:46 GMT

After more than a year on the sidelines, dairy cattle and poultry shows are returning to California fairgrounds. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has lifted its statewide ban on exhibitions, clearing the way for shows to resume.

The restriction was put in place at the beginning of 2025 as the state tracked the spread of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). After months of surveillance and review, state officials now say conditions have improved enough to allow a cautious restart.

According to the department, the decision was based on ongoing monitoring of H5N1 activity across the state, analysis of viral trend data and consultation with state and federal epidemiologists. After a detailed review, the CDFA has determined the risk associated with poultry and dairy cattle exhibitions has declined enough to allow shows to resume, provided enhanced safeguards remain in place.

State officials pointed to stronger biosecurity awareness across the industry as a factor in the decision. Over the past year, producers and exhibitors have become more familiar with transmission risks and prevention strategies, helping reduce overall exposure concerns.

As fair season draws closer, CDFA says the move gives clearer direction to youth livestock programs, breeders and exhibitors who have spent months unsure whether animals would make it back to the show ring.

While the ban has been lifted, fairgrounds and exhibitors are being urged to stay cautious. Enhanced biosecurity measures, routine health checks and careful animal handling are still recommended, especially in high-traffic areas. State monitoring of H5N1 will continue throughout the exhibition season, with officials working alongside fair organizers and animal owners as events resume.

Siring Success: One California Farm’s Approach to Better Beef-on-Dairy Calves

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 20:50:02 GMT

Over the past seven years, Tony Lopes has steered his family’s fourth-generation California dairy through a remarkable transformation. Today, the family milks 5,000 cows across four locations, produces 3,800 beef-on-dairy crossbred calves and procures an additional 12,000-plus head from outside dairies and calf ranches annually, offering a model for other farms looking to diversify revenue and improve herd economics.

Lopes first got into beef-on-dairy during a period of expansion when the farm had extra pen space and a surplus of heifers.

“Beef-on-dairy was becoming the trendy thing to do, and it coincided with us going through an expansion,” he says. “The first question we had to ask ourselves was if we breed some of these lower-end animals to beef, can we still produce enough heifers. The answer was yes. It was a crawl-before-you-can-walk kind of experiment.”

Once the operation confirmed they could meet replacement needs using sexed semen, they stopped using conventional semen entirely and began focusing on generating as many beef-on-dairy cross calves as possible.

“From the first calves that hit the ground, we backgrounded them and sold them in small gooseneck loads. The math kept working, and as our volume increased, we moved up to 50,000-lb. loads,” Lopes recalls.

Over time, the program evolved even further. They now take calves in as day-olds or at 400 lb. to 450 lb., raising them to 700 lb. to 750 lb. before marketing. This growth gave Lopes the confidence to take full control of the genetics behind the operation.

“The entirety of our beef-on-dairy program today is sired by our own Angus genetics,” Lopes explains. “By 2022, we had enough data to confidently procure our own bulls, and in seven years we’ve gone from knowing nothing about the feedlot side of beef-on-dairy to making it an incredibly big piece of our operation.”

Not Held Back By Tradition
“I’ve always had a passion for genetics and have been interested in what genetic inputs can result in better performance outputs,” Lopes says.

So, when beef-on-dairy began gaining traction, he found himself watching the space closely.

“When we were all starting out, there were a lot of questions,” Lopes recalls. “It seemed like the whole industry, at the same time, was trying to figure out what to breed our cows to. Every stud company, every region, at that point, had a little bit of a different answer.”

After experimenting with several breed compositions, the decision ultimately came down to market demand.

“What drove our decision to go Angus was just buyer demand,” Lopes says. “From an animal husbandry standpoint, we were trying to do everything we could to raise a good quality calf. And as we were building relationships with buyers, they were pretty consistently saying: ‘Hey, we’d really prefer if you just made these all Angus.’”

Lopes emphasizes that genetic decisions on the farm are driven by data and economics, not tradition.

“We’re big believers in making genetic decisions based on dollars and cents as opposed to just a biased opinion or tradition,” he explains. “When we started getting kill data back and looked at the economic drivers of our decisions, we arrived at a conclusion: These are the trait compositions that are going to result in more profitability.”

That analysis led the farm to source a specific set of elite Angus bulls, genetics they couldn’t consistently find in any single company’s lineup. According to Lopes, the breed’s data quality, quantity and large population size made it a logical choice for maximum genetic progress.

“Fortunately, in the Angus seedstock world, elite genetics are well distributed throughout the industry,” Lopes says. “There are a substantial number of bull sales every spring and fall. We were able to find the bulls most elite for the traits we care about, and that just kind of grew from there.”

Still, choosing to buy and use their own bulls came with uncertainty at first.

“It was a little leap at the time, but as we continue to aggregate more and more data, we’re very glad we made that investment and very confident in the performance advantages we’re seeing from our selected sires,” Lopes says.

Data-Driven Decisions
Lopes relies on rigorous data collection and economic modeling to guide breeding decisions.

“Everything we do is built into an economic model from the standpoint of profitability,” Lopes explains. “We look at all the things that go into what we’re asking the animal to do. We’re asking the animal to hang the heaviest carcass possible in the shortest number of days.”

It’s a model that pushes the operation to look beyond individual traits and consider how they work together. The goal isn’t simply to make better cattle but to make cattle that deliver the greatest economic return.

“We’re financially incentivized not just for pounds but for quality. If a carcass grades Prime and we’re chasing the best feed conversion, we have to evaluate those trade-offs,” Lopes says. “A 1% gain in feed conversion versus a 1% increase in Prime percentage delivers very different financial outcomes. Our system converts each of those factors into dollar-and-cents projections so we can prioritize which traits deserve the most weight in our selection process.”

But to understand which traits truly move the needle, the process starts with the carcass data connected to each animal.

“We receive kill data on every individual carcass and tie it back to that animal’s ID — hot carcass weight, backfat, ribeye area, marbling score, yield grade and more,” Lopes says. “We can link all of it to genetics and to management factors like sex, birth date, colostrum score and how many times the calf was treated for pneumonia or other illnesses.”

When those metrics are layered together, the picture becomes much clearer.

“By combining all these data points, we can isolate the genetic components from management influences,” he says. “That helps us make smarter decisions about both genetic selection and day-to-day herd management.”

Eyes on the Future
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, Lopes remains bullish on the future of beef-on-dairy.

“I would say there’s a lot of people who think we can’t make any more beef-on-dairy calves than we are now. I don’t share that opinion,” Lopes says. “Producers could likely produce more calves with an optimized approach, using sexed semen and beef genetics. Even in five years, regardless of where beef prices are in the cycle, I think beef-on-dairy will remain a mainstay in the industry. It’s transformational for genetic progress, herd efficiency and revenue.”

On the replacement side, he sees a market that is tighter than ever but still overstocked in certain areas.

“Almost every dairy has fewer heifers than in recent memory, but some still have more than they need,” Lopes says. “Cull rates and herd management mean many farms are comfortable with lower turnover, yet heifers exist — just not where they’re needed. I know I’m in the minority, but I think there’s still an overabundance relative to actual demand.”

For his own operation, Lopes plans measured growth in 2026.

“We’re looking to expand the number of calves we bring in and work with strong operators across the western United States,” Lopes says. “The market is uncertain. Recent futures and processing news make it hard to know whether we’re sourcing at high or low values, but we’re confident there’s still value in beef-on-dairy calves, and we intend to continue growing.”

California's Water Crisis: Farmers Warn Water Rules Could Cripple Central Valley Agriculture

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:52:48 GMT

On Hansen Ranch in the Central Valley, fifth-generation farmer Erik Hansen grows a little bit of everything — pistachios, almonds, pomegranates, alfalfa, corn for silage and cotton.

“We farm 15, 16 different crops,” Hansen says. “Cotton is our biggest acreage crop, and that’s in the form of Pima cotton.”

That diversification has long been the Hansen family’s survival strategy. But in spring 2023, no amount of crop rotation could shield them from disaster.

“Where we’re standing right now was underwater,” Hansen recalls. “A mile from here, over by that PG&E substation, was the edge of the lake.”

The flood wiped out 600 acres of pomegranates and 400 acres of pistachios. One thousand acres of permanent crops gone in one season.

“It was a massive hit,” Hansen says. “We had about 5,000 to 6,000 acres under water. Some of that water lasted for over a year.”

From Too Much Water to Not Enough

The irony is hard to ignore: In 2023, floodwaters destroyed thousands of acres. Now, Hansen says it’s the lack of access to water that could cripple farms across the Central Valley.

“The last projections I heard were anywhere from 1 million to 1.2 million acres totaled in the valley,” he says, referring to farmland that could be idled by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) .

Passed in 2014, SGMA requires local agencies to reduce groundwater overdraft and achieve sustainable use by 2040. On paper, Hansen says, that makes sense.

“To some extent it is good because you have to have a way to manage the overdraft,” he explains. “The problem is there are surface water facilities we developed back in the 50s and 60s that we’re just not using. A lot of that water is going out to the Pacific Ocean.”

For Hansen, the politics sting. He believes decades of state decisions — prioritizing fish and wildlife, reallocating water, and neglecting infrastructure — set up today’s crisis.

“I’m frustrated because the families that have been farming here for years, some decades, sometimes even more, are being footed with a bill for problems that somebody else created,” Hansen says. “If the state doesn’t look in the mirror, I think we’re going to find ourselves in the same position again.”

Young Farmers Face the Same Struggles

Forty miles south, 30-year-old Elizabeth Keenan is navigating the same regulatory headwinds. Her grandfather Charlie started Keenan Farms in 1972, acquiring one of California’s first pistachio orchards. Today, Elizabeth farms alongside her parents and brother.

“Rolling with the regulatory punches can be complicated,” she admits. “Despite pistachios being such a high-value product, despite having optimal land and weather conditions, we really have everything set up beautifully — except for legislation.”

Water, she says, is the most difficult hurdle.

“We’re up to a 50% allocation,” Keenan explains. “The base allocation is 2.2 acre-feet, so we get 1.1 acre-feet to use. Otherwise, we have to have open fallow fields. To pump more water, we have to buy it on the open market, and that’s expensive too.”

A Political Battle Over Flows

Signs line highways across the Central Valley warning that 80% of California’s river water flows out to the Pacific instead of farms. Assemblyman David Tangipa, a freshman lawmaker representing the 8^th District, says those numbers are real.

“It’s 100% happening,” Tangipa says. “Almost 83% of all water in the state is automatically pushed out for environmental purposes.”

California averages about 200 million acre-feet of water each year, Tangipa notes, but despite record rainfall, farms often get less than half of their allocations.

“We’ve prioritized so much environmental legislation that more than 80% of our water is pushed out immediately to the ocean, unnaturally,” he says. “Meanwhile, farmers get less water and more land goes out of production.”

Proponents of Current Water Flows

There are proponents of the current way the water flows, mainly for environmental reasons and to prevent saltwater contamination of freshwater sources.

California releases water into the ocean to prevent saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies, protect endangered aquatic species and ecosystems, and maintain the delicate balance of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary, a critical source of drinking and irrigation water.

A portion of released water is also used for stormwater management to prevent flooding, as it can be difficult and impractical to capture and store all of it.

And those in favor of environmental water releases say it’s essential to support broader ecosystem benefits like water filtration and carbon sequestration, which are important for overall environmental health.

The Ripple Effect

The Central Valley of California is a powerhouse in food production for the U.S. That area alone produces approximately half of all the fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S., as well as a large portion of the nation’s nuts and other foods. When you break down the numbers, the Central Valley accounts for about 60% of the nation’s fruits and nuts, and about 30% of the nation’s vegetables.

For Thomas Putzel, who works with farmers across the Central Valley, the impact of regulations isn’t just measured in acre-feet. It’s measured in livelihoods and the food supply.

“The environmentalists try to say farmers are wasting water,” he says. “But when we look at what farmers provide, we’re planting forests. One acre of almonds will capture 18 metric tons of carbon a year. That’s like taking 29 million cars off the road.”

Putzel says California voters already approved a water bond to build new storage a decade ago, but no new projects have been built.

“Not one shovel has gone in the ground in 10 years,” he says. “Actually, they took some of that money and tore dams down.”

Meanwhile, permanent crops wither when water isn’t available, leaving behind dead orchards that invite pests and rodents into neighboring fields.

“SGMA’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Putzel says. “But you’ve asked growers to run a marathon with their legs tied together. People don’t understand; food doesn’t come from a grocery store. It comes from a farmer. If California stopped shipping produce for one week, our stores would be empty.”

“Is Farming in California’s Best Interest?”

For Erik Hansen, the question is bigger than water allocations or acreage lost.

“Government is probably the biggest problem right now,” he says. “It just seems California hasn’t really decided whether farming is in their best interest. Politicians like to say they’re for small business and small farming, but virtually every piece of legislation makes it more difficult to survive.”

As the Central Valley wrestles with the challenges of floods, drought and regulations, one reality is clear: The fate of these farms is tied not just to weather and soil but to political decisions that could shape the future of food in America.

America's Farm Labor Crisis: Can Immigration Reform Save Agriculture?

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 19:24:02 GMT

Walking orchards in the Central Valley, is something Scott Peters’ family has done for four generations. With his great grandfather settling in the fertile valley in 1933, the family has been immersed with changes. From regulations and battles over water, to the fight for labor and immigration, Peters Fruit Farms is not only working to preserve the past, but also fighting for their future.

“Today, we primarily grow stone fruit. We’ve gone a little bit into the citrus just to diversify. We have the packing house, so we want to keep it running year round. Citrus is the winter commodity, and stone fruit is the summer commodity,” Peters says.

The Peters are unique. They don’t just grow and pick the fruit. They’re also packers and shippers — an operation that relies on hundreds of employees throughout the year.

“Labor prices are really difficult for us,” says the California peach grower. “As an example, our minimum wage is $16.50. When we compete against Georgia (known as the ‘Peach State’), their minimum wage $7.25. It’s just under half of what we have to pay people, which means we just don’t have a margin of error. If there’s something wrong with the crop — if we have a weather event — it stings us a lot harder.”

California’s Farm Labor is Skilled and Difficult to Replace

That’s the reality for farmers across California. Not only are regulations and water becoming expensive for growers across the state, but labor costs are also on the rise. And considering labor is the highest cost for fruit growers, it’s putting a severe strain on producers.

And while it’s expensive, labor is one of Peters’ most critical resources.

“They’re a very talented labor force. We can’t just go and get somebody off the street,” he says. “We can’t get an H-2A worker from another country who doesn’t know the industry. They can’t do the same job.”

From Arizona to California, to meat processing plants that span across the U.S. Peters says that’s one of the biggest misconceptions about migrant labor. People may think they aren’t talented or skilled, but Peters argues they’re both.

“The supervisors have these rings, and we’ll open them up to the size of fruit we want picked. They will pick a few samples off the tree, show them what sits on the ring and what goes through the ring. And the labor we have picking in the orchard, they will know — just by looking at the rings — which fruit to pick,” Peters explains. “They’ll just go from limb to limb, tree to tree, and they’ll pick the size that we’re requesting by the rings.”

Scott Peters shows U.S. Farm Report host Tyne Morgan rings they use to show individuals who are picking the fruit just what size of fruit they need to pick that day. With barely any difference in the size, it shows just how skilled the labor that works in Peters’ orchards are today.

(Matt Mormann, Farm Journal )

Peters says, to the untrained eye, the difference in the size of the rings is unnoticeable — making the labor this orchard employs irreplaceable.

“That’s how skilled they are,” he says. “So when people say they’re replaceable and you can get H-2A people or other people off the street, no, it doesn’t work that way. Those people will have no idea that small of a difference when we’re asking them to pick a certain size.”

The Broken U.S. Immigration System

The individuals Peters employs aren’t part of the H-2A system. Instead, his workers have been in California for generations, doing manual labor many Americans either don’t want to do, or physically can’t do, at a speed that’s needed today.

“The immigration system in the U.S. is absolutely broken today,” Peters tells U.S. Farm Report. “Why? Because they don’t have a simple, easy way to make immigrants legal. It’s complicated. It’s not very easily accessible for the people. If they find a way to do it, it takes them a long time. We have employees that have gone through the process and are legal. At the time, we did not know they were not. We had no idea. When they come to us, they show us a valid ID, and they show a valid social security card. As far as we’re concerned, we are hiring legal people. And then they come back to us down the road and they show other cards and say, ‘Well, now i need to change.’ Then we have to abide by the new name because of the standards.”

Results from Farm Journal’s Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor

(Lindsey Pound )

Agricultural economists from across the U.S. agree. In the latest Farm Journal Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor , 87% of economists said the U.S. immigration system is broken for agriculture. But on the flip side, 87% of economists also said there will be no movement on immigration reform in 2025.

Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers Leagu e, has been fighting for a fix to the current immigration system for decades. He says the current 40-year-old immigration system doesn’t work for agriculture. He argues it’s dramatically impacting California’s agricultural landscape.

“It’s horribly broken, and you can’t band-aid it together anymore,” Cunha tells U.S. Farm Report.

H-2A Program Doesn’t Work for California Agriculture

The H-2A guest worker program may work for some sectors of agriculture, but it’s not a comprehensive “fix” for agriculture — especially industries that rely on a large number of seasonal labor.

While the program is vital for addressing domestic labor shortages, for labor-intensive specialty crops like fruits and vegetables, the H-2A program is designed to provide a cortical legal source of labor where domestic workers are often unwilling or unavailable.

However, Cunha says what the H-2A guest worker program is designed to do, and how it actually works, are two different things.

“The cost is prohibitive. It’s a broken program. A guest worker program should be what it is. You go to the border, get a card and come into California or Arizona or wherever, work for 10 months and then leave,” Cunha says. “The system today requires people to through a process in the countries where you have recruiters that control the workers. They, in turn, kind of manipulate those workers where to go and how much you’re going to pay me, then the person comes here. On top of that, to provide required housing, transportation and meals is very costly. In this state, at $23 an hour, no farmer can afford that.”

Cunha says these are all reasons why the H-2A program must be reformed.

“We also must have a guest worker program for hotels, restaurants and construction to where those workers can come in here, they work for 10 months in a rotation, they go back and then they come back again,” Cunha says. “But it’s a guest worker program and not allowing the country to select and choose who you want. There has to be a great working relationship on a guest worker program that works for my industry and agriculture and the other industries as well.”

40-Year-Old Program

The last major immigration reform in the United States was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which granted legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants and increased penalties for employers hiring them.

The legislation, now 40 years old, is something Cunha argues is out of date.

Efforts to pass new immigration legislation have frequently failed due to partisan disagreements and an inability to find common ground between parties and administrations.

“They use it so they can get re-elected every time. And it’s so sad that our legislators have that type of mentality. Let’s not fix it, because if we say we’re going fix it, that’s how we’ll get elected. That’s how we’ll get re-elected,” Cunha says. “It’s been broken, and it’s been a facade.”

Dignity Act of 2025

Cunha says the only solution on the table that would work today is the Dignity Act of 2025. The bill was introduced on July 15 by Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX).

The bill not only focuses on securing the border, but it provides legal status to qualifying undocumented immigrants. It also imposes higher penalties for illegal border crossings and human and child sex trafficking. Not only would it address America’s farm labor crisis, but Cunha says it could help save agricultural industries that rely heavily on migrant labor across the U.S.

“This is the first real immigration bill that has addressed industries. The Farm Worker Modernization Act was just ag, and it really didn’t do all of ag. It only did the field and not the packing houses or the processing,” Cunha explains. “But being that we’re in the year 2025, many industries like agriculture have the same problem. Those workers have been there for years. And so somehow, we need to give them that opportunity to have a legal means to work here and to travel home.

Cunha says the U.S. has to do something new when it comes to immigration reform, and the Dignity Act of 2025 gives that life.

“The president continually gives off positive vibes: ‘I want the workers to stay here. They are important for the industries, agriculture, the restaurants, the hotels, the construction.’ So, those people need to be here. The bill absolutely deals with that. It makes them have dignity, respect and the fear of not being apprehended any part of the day, going to church or going to the hospital or whatever. They would have a legal card, and the bill’s doing that,” Cunha says.

For now, there’s a nervousness among workers in California — essential labor that supports California’s multi-billion-dollar farming community.

“The workers that are here are more than any H-2A worker that could ever come into the unit. We have 1.6 million. The Department of Labor couldn’t even handle that number if they wanted to bring in H-2A people. The system would blow up,” Cunha says.

California Farmers Are Hopeful

In June, President Donald Trump said he would issue an order soon to address the effects of his immigration crackdown on the country’s farm and hotel industries, which rely heavily on migrant labor.

Trump continues to send mixed signals on immigration policies — even with his hints of a fix for agriculture. According to preliminary Census Bureau data, analyzed by the Pew Research Center , the number of immigrant workers in the U.S. has declined by 1.2 million from January through the end of July. That figure includes people who are in the country illegally, as well as legal residents.

Peters says, considering the Trump administration continues to focus on agriculture, he is hanging onto hope. The hope is that Washington will finally find a long-term fix that helps farmers and protects the precious labor they can’t do without.

“They’re very talented workers,” Peters says. “They have skills, and they’re very hard to replace. You have to train the new person, and it’s how fast they pick up on the training. We’ve looked at robots that do pick fruit. The technology is coming, but it’s not there yet. It’s got a ways to go.”

Americans’ View on Immigration

Americans seem to be growing more positive toward immigration over the past year. According to a Gallup poll released in June, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country.

According to Gallup, these shifts reverse a four-year trend of rising concern about immigration that began in 2021. And with illegal border crossings down sharply this year, the Gallup poll found fewer Americans back hard-line border enforcement measures, while more favor offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.

Agriculture in the Bull's-Eye: Raids Reportedly Resume on Farms, Meatpacking Plants

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 18:40:23 GMT

After President Donald Trump reportedly ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE ) to pause raids on farms and meatpacking plants last week, new reports say the administration is reversing course again. The on-again, off-again reports regarding ICE raids is sowing confusion for those who rely on immigrant labor and already causing labor shortages due to employees not showing up for work.

There was an update again late Friday, with President Trump saying he’s looking at new immigration policy steps that would allow farms to take responsibility for people they hire.

The Washington Post first reported Monday that ICE officials told leaders representing field offices across the country they must continue to conduct raids at worksite locations, which is a reversal from guidance issued just days earlier.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wouldn’t confirm the Washington Post’s report, but an agricultural association told Farm Journal the article is accurate based on their discussions with the administration.

Instead, DHS told us this:

“The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts,” says DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard public safety, national security and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation.”

By Friday, there was another update. Reuters reported President Trump said he was looking at immigration policy steps that would allow farms to take responsibility for people they hire.

“We’re looking at doing something where, in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire and let them have responsibility, because we can’t put the farms out of business,” Trump told reporters. “And at the same time we don’t want to hurt people that aren’t criminals.”

According to Farm Journal’s Michelle Rook, the recent ICE raids are already creating absenteeism and labor shortages that could severally disrupt the U.S. food supply. Ag groups are again calling for immigration reform with hopes the issue will finally come to a head.

Ripple Effect of Immigration Crackdown

Joe Del Bosque, owner of Del Bosque Farms in Firebaugh, Calif., is experiencing the rollercoaster with labor, saying the shifting policy strikes fear in farmers and workers.

“There’s so much uncertainty as to what the administration’s going to do,” Del Bosque told Rook on AgriTalk this week.

Del Bosque says the raids on California produce farms are disrupting the harvest of perishable produce.

“They haven’t been really huge sweeps. They’re usually picking up a few people. But it creates a lot of fear, and people don’t show up to work. That’s just as bad as if they were taken away,” he says.

According to an exclusive report by Farm Journal’s The Packer , the ripple effect of Trump’s immigration crackdown on agriculture could be far-reaching — if the administration revives its focus on ag.

Kevin Kelly is the CEO of Emerald Packaging — the largest flexible packaging supplier to the leafy greens industry. Based in Union City, Calif., the company has been in the packaging business for 62 years. Kelly says the immigrant workforce in California is feeling uncertain and afraid.

“We’ve certainly heard folks aren’t turning up to work in the fields, and we’ve seen it in our facility. We verify everybody, so we know everybody in our facility is documented and can legally work in the United States,” Kelly tells Jennifer Strailey, editor of The Packer. “In our case, it’s brothers and sisters being deported, and other family members being afraid. Our employees are staying home to help their family members move, to take care of them or to take them to see an attorney — that kind of thing.”

Dairy operations in several states have also been raided recently. Dairy producers say they rely on immigrant labor to provide a stable year-round work force and to keep the U.S. food supply stable.

“We need these people to take care of our animals so we can produce food. Without animal care, we won’t have milk, cheese, butter — nothing,” Greg Moes, MoDak Dairy in Goodwin, S.D., told Rook.

The recent ICE arrests at Glenn Valley Foods of Omaha, Neb. have also led to absenteeism at meat processing plants.

“At the beginning of the Trump administration, we had this same worry with the crackdown — whether this was going to impact absenteeism and things like that,” says Brad Kooima, Kooima Kooima Varilek in Sioux Center, Iowa. “So, hopefully we can put that in our rearview mirror.”

By the Numbers: A Heavy Reliance on Immigrant Labor
The news this week of the Trump administration putting a pause on raids of farms and meat processors is welcome news for those in agriculture. From dairies and produce farms, to meatpacking plants across the U.S., these sectors rely heavily on immigrant labor.

Immigrant labor makes up a substantial portion of the meat processing workforce, with estimates ranging from 37% to over 50%. However, states like South Dakota and Nebraska have even higher concentrations of immigrant workers in meat processing — reaching 58% and 66%, according to the nonprofit Migration Policy Institute.

And a large portion of U.S. dairy farms rely on immigrant labor, with estimates indicating that over half of all dairy workers are immigrants. Specifically, these workers account for 51% of the total dairy workforce and are responsible for producing 79% of the U.S. milk supply.

Farmworker Justice estimates 70% of the produce industry’s farmworkers are immigrants. USDA’s estimates are lower — closer to 60%.

California Issues New Ban on Dairy Cattle and Poultry Shows in Response to H5N1 Bird Flu

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 16:42:37 GMT

California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones has issued a statewide ban on exhibiting dairy cattle and poultry at fairs and shows due to the ongoing spread of H5N1 Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) among dairy herds and domestic poultry. This decision, which comes in the wake of Governor Gavin Newsom’s state of emergency declaration last month, is aimed at curbing the devastating effects of the outbreak on California’s livestock and poultry industries.

“Due to the continued spread of H5N1 Bird Flu in California, the State Veterinarian has implemented a ban on all California Poultry and Dairy Cattle Exhibitions at fairs and shows immediately until further notice,” the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced in a press release. “This action is required to minimize the danger of exposing people and non-infected cows and birds to the disease.”

The outbreak, which began in the state in August 2024, has affected over 700 dairy herds and 60 poultry flocks, impacting more than 15 million birds across California. Within the last 30 days, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reports that 149 new confirmed cases had been detected within the state. With new infections still being detected, the ban is a step to prevent further spread of the virus.

Currently the CDFA is urging dairy and poultry owners to take immediate action by implementing strict biosecurity measures. These include preventing the mingling of livestock with wild birds or other infected animals, avoiding the movement or sharing of potentially contaminated equipment, and ensuring rigorous sanitation practices.

“Enhanced biosecurity is essential to protecting livestock and poultry from this devastating disease,” the CDFA stated. “Producers must prevent contact with wild bird populations and avoid any practices that might facilitate the transfer of the virus.”

Clinical signs of H5N1 Bird Flu in cattle include reduced feed consumption, a marked drop in milk production—sometimes resulting in thick, colostrum-like milk or no milk production at all—respiratory distress, nasal discharge, lethargy, dehydration, fever, and abnormal feces.

The ban on exhibitions is expected to remain in effect until the outbreak is under control, with officials monitoring the situation closely.

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California Issues State of Emergency Warning in Response to More Bird Flu Found on Dairies

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 22:45:29 GMT

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently proclaimed a State of Emergency to accelerate California’s response to avian influenza A (H5N1), or more commonly known as ‘bird flu.’

According to Newsom, this action comes as cases were detected in dairy cows on farms in Southern California, signaling the need to expand monitoring further and build on the coordinated statewide approach to contain and mitigate the spread of the virus.

“This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak. Building on California’s testing and monitoring system — the largest in the nation — we are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement. “While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus.”

State health officials have reported that cases of H5N1 have been found on 641 dairy farms. The first confirmed case in the state occurred earlier in August, but roughly half of the farms were identified within the last month.

So far, no person-to-person transmission of H5N1 has been reported in California, and nearly all infected individuals have had direct exposure to infected cattle.

According to Newsom, the state has implemented the nation’s most extensive testing and monitoring system to address the outbreak. This recent declaration aims to bolster the state agencies’ response by providing additional staff and resources for testing, heightened quarantine measures, and distributing personal protective equipment to high-risk dairy employees.

Since its initial detection in Texas and Kansas in March 2024, the virus has spread to dairy cattle in 16 states.

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Heifer Prices Hit Astonishing Values: It's a Seller's Market

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 16:07:04 GMT

High-quality Holstein springers topped the market at a stunning $4,250 per head at the Pipestone Livestock Auction in Pipestone, Minn. in late November. Prices softened a bit in California compared to last month, but still remain above $3,000 on the high end -- well above the cost of production.

At the Turlock Livestock Auction Yard November 2024 Dairy Video Sale, two lots of 40 Holstein springers sold for $3,250/head, and three lots of 50 Jersey springers brought $2,475/head. Calves remain strong as well, with Holstein heifer calves fetching $250-775/head, and beef-cross calves still surpassing the $1,000/head mark in spot markets.

	Springing Heifers		Heifer Calves	Beef Cross Calves
Location (sale date)	Supreme/ Top	Approved/ Medium	90-120 pounds	60-100 pounds

Turlock, Calif (11-22-24)	$2,600- $3,475	$1,800- $2,500	--	--
Lomira, Wis (11-29-24)	$1,800- $2,400	$1,200- $1,700	$250- $400	$550- $1,020
Pipestone, Minn. (11-21-24)	$4,000- $4,250	$3,750- $4,000	No test	No test
New Holland, Pa. (10-24-24)	No report	No report	$325- $775	$700- $1,025

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Lactalis USA Announces Major $55 Million Feta Cheese Plant Expansion in Tulare, California

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 21:00:43 GMT

Lactalis USA recently announced that it will be making a major investment in its Tulare, California facility. This move will allow the company to significantly increase production of Président Feta cheese.

According to the company, this decision comes as feta cheese continues to grow in popularity with American consumers. The $55 million investment creates Lactalis’ largest feta production line in the U.S.

“We are expanding to increase our cheese production capacity at our facility,” said Esteve Torrens, chief executive officer, Lactalis USA, in a company press release. “This investment into new jobs and expanding operations supports our local communities and demonstrates Lactalis’ long-term view for business success in the United States. This expansion helps us meet the growing demand for Président Feta cheese in the United States, which is good news for our retail customers and consumers who continue to choose Président Feta for cooking at home and creating new occasions to enjoy feta.”

This new, 38,000 square foot manufacturing line will bring additional capacity for Lactalis USA feta production in the U.S. at its facilities in Tulare and Belmont, Wisconsin. The company expects the facility to be fully operational in 2027.

Lactalis USA is a subsidiary of Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy company and currently helps produce products such as Kraft® Parmesan, Président® Feta, Knudsen® Cottage Cheese and Sour Cream.

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How Feeding Calves Helped This 33 Year Old Farm Mom Recover From a Devastating Brain Tumor

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:53:47 GMT

If you’re trying to imagine a California dairy farm family, the Ron and Sherri Prins family could easily paint that picture for you. Holsteins and Jerseys, a handful of employees, four children, one spouse that grew up on the farm and one that married into it.

Fifteen years into growing a farm and a family together in the Central Valley of California, everything changed for Ron, Sherri and their family. Sherri was 33, and the kids were six, eight, 10 and 12. Sherri had been dealing with migraines, and she recalls the evening in May of 2000, when Ron took her to the emergency room.

“Soon after our emergency room visit, we had a diagnosis of a brain tumor,” she says. “Life changed for all of us. We knew God had a plan for our lives and would take care of us, but we still had so many things that lay ahead of us.”

Doctor visits, MRIs, phone calls and trips to a major city were only part of what was to come. The kids were all involved in school, church and sports activities, and there were 600 cows to be milked.

“We have an amazing family and church family that helped us with our children, meals and driving, and so many others that offered their help on the dairy farm,” Sherri says. “Ron’s dad took some of the workload, as well as other members of our work force.”

Sherri had brain surgery on her 34th birthday, October 3, 2000. The surgery was successful, and coming home after a week, Ron was juggling a lot. “I don’t know if I could have done it all on my own. We were so fortunate to have most of our family close by, and a lot of friends who helped out,” Ron says.

The surgery was just the beginning of a long road to recovery for Sherri and continued adjusting for the rest of the family. Sherri remembers how the kids each handled the whole thing in different ways, and was grateful that their pastor was there to help them process things.

“There was a lot of juggling schedules with everything the kids were involved in,” Ron says. “And their roles increased on the farm as they got older. There was always something for them to do after school and on weekends if they weren’t busy with something else.”

But it ended up being a specific role on the farm that made a world of difference in Sherri’s recovery. The tumor had been in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for short term memory. Ron pieced together the need for Sherri to exercise that part of her brain with an important, daily, repetitive task on the farm: feeding calves.

One year after her surgery, Sherri stepped into that role, with the kids helping after school and on the weekends. “It became a type of occupational therapy,” she says. “Working on remembering cow and calf numbers and working through calf issues translated into redeveloping the ability to manage a schedule for a family. Working back into being able to multitask was a long process, but I was pushed along by the calf feeding routine. Along the way, I learned how much I loved calf care and how important it was to helping me recover.”

Another 20 years later, Sherri is now retired from calf feeding and has redeveloped her short-term memory to the point that her farm job is to manage the bookwork. Throughout the whole process, Ron and Sherri made a point to put their trust in God’s guidance and will never take for granted the type of perspective their kids gained at such young ages.

“Life in general is full of things that are out of our control,” Sherri says. “We learned at another level that our lives as farmers, parents are all in the hands of God. We had to trust God for what was ahead, and that wasn’t always easy, but we felt his protection and direction all through the process. Our children also saw and experienced the hard things and gained a great life perspective of what is really important.”

While the hard times have the potential to cast a cloud on the family’s story, Ron and Sherri are quick to point out the good times and the blessings they’ve experienced since Sherri’s diagnosis.

“We have been able to grow our dairy (now 1,100 cows), and add acres to the farm. Which is great, but it’s also added more work for everyone. We doubled our employees, cows, bookwork and everything,” Sherri says.

Ron adds, “I think it taught us that when life throws tough times at you, you learn to push through and work it out, and in the end it always seems to work out. Like any business, it takes a team effort to be successful, and we had that.”

Sherri describes it as chaotic and wonderful at the same time. “When 20 years ago we didn’t know what the future held for us, we can look at where we are now and know that God allowed us to have so much more than we could have ever imagined.”

For more human interest stories, read:

California Dairy Farmers Prayed for Rain – Now It’s Forcing Some to Evacuate

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 01:29:10 GMT

Not long ago, California dairy producer Ryan Junio prayed for rain. The ongoing water scarcity challenges that faced the Golden State was the No. 1 concern for this Tulare County dairy farmer.

“As a dairy producer, water scarcity is an ever-growing challenge and is my top concern,” Junio said last summer.

Junio wouldn’t have thought that nine months later he would be dealing with a different water crisis, as massive flooding has wreaked havoc on California’s largest dairy hub, Tulare County, home to 330,000-plus dairy cows. Recently Junio’s farm, Four J Jerseys, which consists of two dairies located in Pixley and home to 4,200 cows, had to evacuate one dairy that sits south of the Tule River.

“We have managed to keep the corrals dry, but we have water on three sides of us,” Junio said on Sunday afternoon. “With another storm coming, we are trying to be proactive and moved cows back to the home dairy in a safe area and took heifers to our heifer ranch, along with one of our neighbors.”

Relocating cows from their second dairy to the home dairy hasn’t been a small task.

“We turned nine 500-cow freestall pens into 600-cow freestall pens at the home dairy,” Junio explained. “The carrousel can handle it, but I had to switch my cows from 3x to 2x milking.”

Geoff Vanden Heuvel, the director of regulatory and economic affairs with the California Milk Producer Counci,l said flooding in Southern San Joaquin Valley has caused the evacuation of a small number of dairies with another dozen or so where the flooding could necessitate evacuation.

“We are really in the early stages of this situation,” he says. “Two of the flood control lakes, Success and Kaweah, are full which greatly reduces their ability to control the amount of water that gets released from them. If we have a rapid snow melt, the flows from those lakes could greatly increase the flooding which would threaten the dairies in those areas.”

Back in Pixley, Four J heifers were also relocated, spread out across their heifer ranch and nearby vacant corrals. They also pulled all the commodities out of their commodity barns, moving it to safe ground. However, Junio reports he still has alfalfa hay in that barn and 6,000 tons of silage at that dairy.

“We were proactive and got things moved before damage has been done to our facility,” Junio shares.

Their cropland is also not faring well.

“Several thousands of acres are under water as the river continues to overflow in restricted areas,” he says. “However, there are several other dairies up and down the stream from us in much worse shape.”

According to Junio, this is just the Tule River situation. South of their other facilities is Deer Creek and that has wreaked havoc as well for anyone along it.

Junio is thankful that his milk continues to be picked up and shares that his Land O’Lakes field representative told him that they are barely able to pick up milk from other farms.

“It is simply a mess,” he says. “I think all of us out west collectively prayed at the same time for water and it bit us in the rear.”

For more California flooding coverage, read:

From Fresh Berries to Lettuce, What We Now Know About the Agricultural Losses Caused by Flooding in California

New Indoor Feed Centers Planned in California

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:32:26 GMT

California’s Central Valley will soon be home to a new model in dairy feed production: indoor feed centers.

Two companies have entered into agreements to provide forage to California dairies through innovative approaches producing fresh grain sprouts. Forever Feed Technologies will focus on producing Automated Sprouted Grain (ASG), while HydroGreen, Inc. will produce a similar hydroponically grown product.

Both companies emphasize the consistency of supply and environmental sustainability aspects of their businesses. Because the feed is produced in a climate-controlled, indoor environment, it can be grown and harvested 365 days a year. The processes also use less water, land, fuel, fertilizer, and crop-protection inputs compared to traditional dairy forage production.

And because the forage – produced by sprouting grains like barley and wheat – is lower in sugar and starch than other dairy forages, pH balance in the rumen is said to be improved, and methane emissions are predicted to be cut by around 25%.

Those tiny sprouts add up to big tonnage in the indoor facilities. Each of two planned HydroGreen sites in the Central Valley will produce about 34 tons of forage per day, as grains are constantly sprouted and harvested – a process that takes just 5 to 7 days from start to finish. Cost of the feed is estimated at about $150/ton.

Because building their own indoor feed centers would be a steep investment for individual dairies, both companies are building central hubs, serving several dairies using a “Feed as a Service (FaaS)” model. Securing advance contracts with dairies is helping ensure the financial viability of the ventures.

HydroGreen is partnering with established dairy supplier Hansen Industries to construct their initial two feed centers in Visalia, Calif. Each of the 20,000-square-foot facilities will grow hydroponic fodder using highly automated seeding, watering, and harvesting processes. Once the sprouts are harvested, they can be fed whole or blended into a TMR ration.

In a transition-cow feeding trial on a 742-cow commercial Jersey herd in South Dakota, HydroGreen sprouts were fed as a part of the close-up ration. In the subsequent lactation, cows receiving the feedstuff were shown to have performance increases of 5% in feed efficiency, 10% in fiber digestibility, 12% in dry matter intake, 5% in milk production, and 8% in conception rate.

Forever Feed Technologies has announced an initial facility site on the premises of one of its investor dairies, River Ranch Dairy, Hanford, Calif. Their project is also being backed by financial investment by Bar 20 Dairy, Kerman, Calif.; Producers Dairy Products, Fresno, Calif.; and DeJong Family Farms, Francesville, Ind., along with additional agricultural leaders.

Dairy owners investing in the technology note the appeal of having year-around access to consistent, fresh, high-quality, locally available forage produced in a controlled environment, without the risks imposed by weather and other variable factors that come with raising crops outdoors. They also cite its decarbonizing benefits and support of local and regional food security.

In addition to dairy rations, hydroponic fodder can applied to beef nutrition, creating the opportunity to produce “grass-fed” beef without the need to secure pasture land. HydroGreen recently announced intentions to expand into beef cattle country with a planned facility in Tulsa, Okla.

For more on nutrition, read:

Activist Sentenced to Jail for Conspiracy and Trespassing

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 20:13:11 GMT

A California judge has sentenced a high-profile animal rights activist to 90 days in jail followed by two years of probation for his conspiracy and trespassing convictions, which stemmed from two poultry farm protests near Petaluma more than five years ago.

Wayne Hsiung, 42, co-founder of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), will serve his time in the Sonoma County jail and upon release was ordered to stay at least 50 yards away from poultry farms, is barred from interacting with co-conspirators and forbidden from entering commercial feeding operations without permission.

Hsiung, a lawyer and Berkeley resident, was convicted by a jury of eight women and four men of one felony count of conspiracy and two misdemeanor counts of trespassing. The jury deliberated for six days and deadlocked on a second felony conspiracy charge.

The charges against Hsiung stemmed from protests at Sunrise Farms in May, 2018, and Reichardt Duck Farm in June, 2019. The jury deadlocked on the charge related to the 2019 gathering, which Hsiung denied organizing.

At sentencing, Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Robert Waner said the case was never about limiting free speech or activism. Rather, he said, it focused on Hsiung’s unlawful, reckless and potentially dangerous behavior.

“That behavior will not be tolerated in this county,” Waner told Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Laura Passaglia.

In his defense, Hsiung said during the 15-day trial that he and DXE were allowed on the farms’ properties under a California law that stated people may enter private property to assist animals that aren’t receiving proper food and water. Later, in his probation report, Hsiung conceded that the law applies strictly to animal shelters. He also admitted that members of his animal rights group gathered at Sunrise Farms without consent.

At the protests, hundreds of animal welfare activists invaded the properties and “rescued” chickens and ducks the alleged were mistreated. Their stated goal was to raise awareness about the birds’ mistreatment and encourage improved conditions at poultry farms. At the Reichardt facility, participants stormed the property, shut off machines and used bicycle locks to secure themselves to equipment.

Hsiung represented himself at trail and argued his intentions were not criminal. Judge Passaglia, however, disagreed, telling Hsiung there is a difference between activism and criminality, and “in this case, you chose to break the law.”

Hsiung could have been sentenced to up to three years in jail for the convictions.

El Niño Intensifies Following Four-Year Hiatus

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 17:01:28 GMT

The weather phenomenon known as El Niño has arrived and is now intensifying after a four-year absence. According to Monica Ganley, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report and principal of Quarterra, an agricultural consulting firm in Buenos Aries, El Niño could have profound impacts on agricultural production, including dairy output, across the globe in coming months, at the same time food insecurity is increasing.

“While the effects of El Niño vary, the weather phenomenon will undeniably impact agricultural and dairy production over the first six months of 2023. Though in some cases, a specific set of weather conditions can boost production, generally, the disruptive conditions caused by El Niño will likely reduce production and put upward pressure on agricultural commodity prices, including dairy products,” Ganley said. “In today’s current geopolitical climate, the effects of El Niño could exacerbate the issues created by the war in Ukraine and unrest in the Middle East, intensifying concerns about food insecurity across the globe.”

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), El Niño is likely to be the dominant weather phenomenon through the first half of next year, with a 75% to 85% chance it will be classified as a strong event. Unfortunately, El Niño has arrived amid a global food crisis in which more than 800 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat, and when Russia’s war of aggression continues to limit agricultural exports from Ukraine, a major supplier of food to the Middle East and Africa.

“Many agricultural producers are now preparing themselves for the weather shifts that would be consistent with an El Niño effect,” Ganley said. “In the northern tier of the United States, the next few months are expected to be relatively dry, and temperatures are forecast to be warmer than normal. Mild weather could help winter crops in northern states, but analysts caution that a lack of snow cover could also create adverse conditions. On the positive side, producers may be able to plant earlier this coming spring as warmer temperatures will likely lead to an earlier thaw.”

Meanwhile, El Niño tends to bolster the subtropical jet stream, which could bring stronger storms to the southern tier of the United States. In the past, years with a strong El Nino, such as 1982-83 and 1997-98, California and the Southwest have seen much wetter winters. Andrew Hoell, research meteorologist with NOAA’s Physical Science Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, told the Washington Post that “strong El Niño events increase the likelihood of above-average precipitation in the Southwest, and they do so to the tune of about 40, 50 or 60%.”

The effects of El Niño could be equally as disruptive in other parts of the world. Throughout Central America and the northwestern rim of South America, El Niño typically brings dry conditions, which is bad news for dairy producers in those areas who depend disproportionately on grazing their cattle, Ganley said.

“El Niño will also likely bring wet conditions to key dairy areas in the continent’s southern cone, including Argentina and Uruguay. However, after three continuous years of drought, producers could welcome some additional moisture,” she said.

European producers will also likely face wetter-than-normal winter conditions, although precipitation could dissipate in the first quarter of next year, while New Zealand will likely experience a warmer summer, with less rainfall predicted for the North Island and wetter-than normal conditions for the South Island.

“In Australia, dry conditions and scorching temperatures will likely increase the risk of bushfires across the country,” Ganley said, adding that multi-year droughts on the continent have already devastated the dairy industry there.

For more on weather, read:

A Girl, a Goat and the Law: The Shasta County, CA, Boondoggle

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 22:03:40 GMT

It is entirely possible the Shasta County, Calif., sheriff’s office and the Shasta District Fair have tarnished your image as a food producer more than any radical animal rights group. Both are guilty of actions that are at least ignorant and grossly at odds with the values the fair claims to promote.

This is a story about a 9-year-old girl and her pet goat, Cedar, and the fact grown-ups couldn’t figure out how to bend the rules enough so it didn’t end up written as a tragedy in the New York Times. That’s how it was framed by Nicholas Kristof in his column: “ What a Girl’s Goat Teaches Us About Our Food .”

The story, of course, reveals little about “our food,” but offers a smorgasbord of opportunity for the anti-meat community to criticize meat production, as Kristof does so eloquently. Indeed, the only winner in this public relations debacle is Advancing Laws for Animals , a nonprofit law firm specializing in complex, novel issues of animal law.

In fact, the tale of the little girl and her goat received nationwide press coverage on CNN , USA Today, The Daily Mail, The Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Washington Post , Inside Edition, CBS News and many others.

First, Cedar’s story. Or more accurate, how Cedar became such a notorious outlaw the Shasta County sheriff dispatched two deputies – with a search warrant! – on a day-long trip to Sonoma County to retrieve him.

A year ago Jessica Long purchased a goat for her daughter’s 4H project. The girl began preparing to show Cedar at the county fair in June. As Kristof notes, “the girl and goat bonded. Soon Cedar was running to the gate to greet (the girl), and Long says that her daughter walked around with Cedar as if he were a pet dog.”

Cedar was shown and then sold in the 4H auction where state Sen. Brian Dahl (R) paid $902 for the $200 goat, a typical premium for bidders seeking to reward young 4H members. The girl was heartbroken, and a video taken that evening shows her embracing Cedar and sobbing. Unable to bear her daughter’s heartbreak, Long gathered up both the girl and the goat and removed them. As a fugitive from justice, Cedar was taken to a hideout in far-off Sonoma County. Before doing so, she told fair representatives she would reimburse Dahl and pay for any financial hit caused by the decision to keep him.

This would be the point where reasoned adults might bend the rules for a little girl and her pet goat. That didn’t happen. Fair executives were adamant that Cedar must be slaughtered. Long says she received a call from the fair’s livestock manager who allegedly demanded she return Cedar and threatened to have her charged with grand theft, a felony, if she didn’t.

“The fair industry is set up to teach our youth responsibility and for the future generations of ranchers and farmers to learn the process and effort it takes to raise quality meat,” Melanie Silva, the CEO of the fair, emailed Long.

The fair contacted the Shasta County sheriff, who promptly dispatched deputies to apprehend the fugitive goat. This whole hot mess is headed to court.

Long has sued the Shasta County sheriff claiming deputies wrongly seized the family’s goat and then apparently handed it over to the fair authorities. In their response, the county and the sheriff’s office acknowledge that the deputies “drove to Sonoma County to retrieve a goat” and claim that “no warrant was necessary to retrieve Cedar at the Sonoma Farm as they had consent from the property owner.”

Think about this for a moment. Shasta County sent two deputies on a 500-mile, 10-hour round trip to retrieve a $200 goat! Try explaining that to taxpayers come next election.

More important for livestock producers is how the Shasta County Fair and the Shasta County sheriff – both unencumbered by intelligence – created a bonanza for animal rights zealots. Pluck any of the stories about Cedar and visit the comments section. There you’ll find responses across the country nearly unanimous in their defense of the little girl, with many using the opportunity to attack livestock production as “cruel,” “inhumane,” “abhorrent,” etc.

Here are two examples from the NY Times that accurately capture the sentiment:

Craig writes: “There’s a gigantic & worrisome unanswered question here. What kind of officials would agree to trigger such an absolutely cruel & ghoulish act against a child? Who are these people?”

R writes: “I can safely say I am completely against 4-H as an organization having learned what their values are. Insisting on slaughter and death when someone doesn’t want to participate is completely abhorrent.”

Seizing on this opportunity, Advancing Laws for Animals is representing the mother and daughter in the pending lawsuits. Whether they prevail in court is likely secondary for the legal team who will relish the chance to argue for animal rights in open court – and the press coverage the case is sure to attract.

California Storms Both a Blessing and a Curse

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 14:04:17 GMT

Mother Nature continues to come down hard on California, proving that too much of a good thing can be too much. The state continues to be bombarded by what meteorologists call atmospheric rivers—narrow bands of precipitation that dump heavy rainfall in a concentrated area. These downpours have wreaked havoc on the state, including the dairy industry, by causing flooding, loss of life, and power outages. At the same time, the precipitation has added to the snowpack, recharged reservoirs, and mitigated drought conditions throughout the state. Yet water scarcity concerns remain.

Snowpack, an essential source of water in spring, is now greater than 200 inches in some mountain locations, said Betty Berning, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report. That’s the good news. As for the bad news, 40 of California’s 58 counties were under a state of emergency, including the key dairy counties of Tulare, Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, and Merced.

“Localized flooding has caused transportation delays and downtime at dairy manufacturers,” Berning noted. “Water-covered roadways, including major thoroughfares and alternative routes, have made milk deliveries tricky or even impossible in some locations. Spot loads have sold for less than class prices as temporarily closed plants and cooperatives have tried to find a way to use the milk.”

USDA’s Dairy Market News reported that milk production remaied stable through the recent torrential rains and was still tracking above February 2023 levels. That said, California output has not been as strong as originally expected, Berning said, and the situation in California continues to worsen. Some dairy producers have had to move cows out of flooded corrals and barns, while others have had to completely evacuate their herds.

“This will all lead to steep cull rates and increased cases of mastitis and higher somatic cell counts that could further increase culling as drug costs escalate and producers opt not to treat the sickest cows,” Berning said. “Damage to local feed supplies and a drop in breeding and other farm management practices will also reduce conception rates, and eventually the number of heifers available to enter the herd.”

Some operations could remain empty permanently, she said. It appears that the issues wrought by the storm could speed up the slow decline in the state’s dairy industry, she added.

“On a positive note, though, because the Golden State has been in drought for most of the last 15 years, the much-needed excess moisture will help to reverse some of the drought’s impacts. While water restrictions for residents, farmers, and livestock producers are part of life in California, these could also be lessened with the increased moisture.”

According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, in late February, drought covered nearly 85% of California, while today the area affected by drought has dropped to just over 36%, and the most of Central Valley is no longer designated as either abnormally dry or in drought.

However, California’s water issues are far from over, Berning said. Water levels in Lake Mead are still dangerously low even though they have increased from a low of 1040.71 feet on July 27 to 1045.92 by March 23. Federal officials have warned that water in Lake Mead could fall to dead pool levels of 895 feet by 2025, which means water would no longer flow from the lake. At 950 feet, the Hoover Dam would no longer provide hydroelectricity to Arizona, California, and Nevada.

In January, the seven states governed by the Colorado River Compact failed to reach a voluntary agreement on how to cut water use by 2-million to 4-million acre-feet this year as ordered by the Bureau of Reclamation. This means the government could enforce its own plan to prevent water levels in major reservoirs from declining to the point they no longer can supply water or electricity to those who depend on it.

California Flooding Forces Dairies to Move to Higher Ground

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 21:22:36 GMT

$336 million – That’s the preliminary estimate of January ag losses to one California county following a series of atmospheric river storms. Those storms have caused damage to agriculture in Tulare, Monterey and Humboldt counties. The executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau says this month’s damages from more storms just in his county could top that January number.

And the waters keep rising, forcing some dairy farmers in Tulare County California to move their operations to higher ground. AgDay affiliate KMPH-TV talked to farmers in the area . They report that six days ago, a levee broke on the Tule River five miles upstream from Nick Koot’s dairy farm in Tulare. He thought it was too far away to impact his dairy.

“Come Thursday, this whole place was under water,” Koot says. “I was worried the cows were going to drown, so we made the decision to get a bunch of trucks from friends and family and we were able to haul the cows off.”

Koot’s says it took two days to move 1,200 cows to his father-in-law’s, his cousin’s and another place that takes farm animals.

Flooding at the Medonza Dairy in Tulare forced them to evacuate the herd.

“We had to evacuate about 1,000 head that were on the lower part of the dairy,” says Alvin Medonza, owner of Medonza Dairy. “We did that by having a bunch of trailers come in and we took them to our neighbors who were up on higher ground.”

Dairymen grow various crops to feed their cows, and right now these two dairy farmers say the situation doesn’t look good.

“Our crops of wheat right now – some of them might survive. The ones that took the blunt of the water where it was basically a river running right through it [won’t likely make it],” Medonza says.

Koot agrees, adding, “If these fields don’t yield of if they all die, I’m going to have trouble feeding my cows in the future. So, I don’t know if I’m going to restart [my farm] up or call it quits and cut my losses.”

The Tulare County Farm Bureau is currently connecting the ag community with information and resources.

“Many dairies have had their feed damaged, so there is a variety of challenges with replacing silage and getting alfalfa onto the replacement locations,” says Tricia Stever-Blattler, Executive Director for Tulare County Farm Bureau.

Moving cows to higher ground has been priority number one for Koot and Medonza. They say when the storms pass, they’ll size up their losses and see how they overcome the flood of 2023.

KMPH-TV “Dairy farmers in Tulare County move herds to higher ground to escape flooding”

California Cattlemen Approve $1 Per Head Funding For Cattle Council

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:23:45 GMT

California cattlemen voted to approve the state’s new Cattle Council by a 2 to 1 margin in a referendum held last month. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced the results of the referendum have been certified and show that 68% of producers favor the implementation of the council. The law went into effect April 5, 2019.

“I am extremely pleased with the strong support demonstrated by ranchers throughout California for the Cattle Council,” said Dave Daley, chair of the Cattle Council Outreach Committee. “It became clear to me very early on that once ranchers learned more about the Cattle Council, they were overwhelmingly supportive.”

Daley told Drovers that environmental issues “are first and foremost” in California in terms of getting people to understand that beef is important, not only as a protein source, but also for the environment.

“The general public just doesn’t understand how important cattle are to protecting the environment, open space and habitat,” Daley said. “We have a great product and we do some really important things to protect California landscapes and we’re really proud of that.”

The new Cattle Council mandates an assessment of an additional $1 per head on cattle sold, including dairy animals over 250 pounds. The new law also provides a refund provision for ranchers who do not wish to participate. Daley said the projected income for the Cattle Council is $3 million to $3.5 million annually.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 965 into law in the fall of 2018, which established the process by which farmers and ranchers could create the California Cattle Council. Specifically, the Cattle Council will fund research, education and promotion that will focus on issues facing ranchers and live cattle production. It will also provide “the ability to defend against the baseless attacks launched by those who see to put us out of business,” according to a statement by the Outreach Committee.

The funds cannot be used for lobbying, campaign contributions or litigation. They can be used for promotion, public relations, crisis management and education, including providing factual information to policy makers, regulators and agencies.

The Cattle Council will be under the control of a local board made up of cattle producers. “This board will not only direct the activities of the Council, it will also ensure that the Council is not subject to the federal beef checkoff program or be influenced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The Council will be responsive to the unique needs and issues facing live cattle production exclusively in California.”

California Cattlemen’s Association president Mark Lacey called the $1 assessment in the Cattle Council an “investment in a wonderful way of life.”

While the Cattle Council may not single-handedly resolve all the issues affecting producers in California, Lacey said, “it is the cheapest insurance ranchers can buy to protect the freedom to operate since it will increase our ability to be at the table to work on issues that are critical to our future.”

I'm A Drover: Science Advocate

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:23:33 GMT

Hating on cows is popular, largely because of misperceptions and miscalculations by groups who might take advantage of the general public’s lack of knowledge about science. Often stepping into the fray to set the record straight is Frank Mitloehner, professor and air quality expert from University of California, Davis, also known as @GHGGuru on Twitter, where you can find links to many of his challenges to anti-cow propaganda.

But, Mitloehner emphasizes, he’s not your advocate.

“I work for the public,” he says. “As a faculty member at a public university, I work for everyone, and that means I advocate for using science.”

Specifically, Mitloehner is a professor and air quality Extension specialist in the department of animal science at UC Davis. But his path to an American land-grant university was unique. He grew up in West Germany, and when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, he was among the first to go east for his education, to the University of Leipzig, Germany, where he earned a master’s degree in agricultural engineering and animal science in 1996. He followed that with graduate studies in animal science at the University of Goettingen, Germany. Finally, Mitloehner earned his doctorate in animal science at Texas Tech University in 2000.

Soon thereafter he applied for, and was offered, what he calls a job that was a perfect match for his education and interests at UC Davis.

“While at Texas Tech, I conducted research on air quality—dust emission and microbial sampling in feedlot cattle and pigs, and heat stress mitigation in cattle and pigs,” he says. “Now I’m working on air quality research related to livestock production, especially quantification of greenhouse gas, ammonia, dust and odor emissions from dairies, beef feedlots and poultry operations. My main objective is to minimize environmental impacts of livestock systems.”

Such research is critically important for the livestock industries and the public, but it has also given Mitloehner the scientific authority to challenge some of the most egregious claims against livestock production—and quite successfully, too.

When the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations published “Livestock’s Long Shadow” in 2006, a report that was “to assess the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems,” Mitloehner challenged one of the key scientific findings. Livestock’s Long Shadow famously claimed livestock production was responsible for “18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, more than transport.”

That led to calls for a reduction in meat consumption to reduce climate change. But upon review of the data, Mitloehner noted the emission figures were calculated differently for livestock versus transportation. The livestock figures had been reached by adding all GHG emissions associated with meat production, including fertilizer, land clearance, methane emissions and vehicle use on farms, whereas the transportation figure only included tail pipe emissions. The result, Mitloehner says, was an “apples-and-oranges comparison that truly confused the issue.”

Pierre Gerber, a policy officer with the FAO and co-author of the report, acknowledged Mitloehner’s criticism. “I must say honestly that he has a point—we factored in everything for meat emissions, and we didn’t do the same thing with transport,” he said.

More recently, Mitloehner challenged a report called EAT-Lancet that proposed “healthy diets from sustainable food systems.” Many experts called the EAT-Lancet data on the impact of livestock production on the environment flawed. Mitloehner says the report assumed most land used for agriculture could be converted to cropland. In reality, 70% of agricultural land is marginal, meaning it is unsuitable for crops. Grazing animals can still make use of this land.

“If we were to forego meat by reducing our animal-based foods by 90%, we would lose the use of the vast majority of agricultural land for food production. That is taking things in the wrong direction,” he says.

Additionally, Mitloehner added “While EAT-Lancet claims its reference diet would decrease greenhouse gas emissions, the Commission’s fundamentally flawed data fail to account for methane reduction (i.e., oxidation) that occurs naturally, as methane remains in the atmosphere for only 10 years….”

As an advocate of science, Mitloehner believes efforts to reduce meat and milk production globally will only result in “more hunger in poor countries” and that efforts should be focused on “smarter farming, not less farming.”

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Giant Australian Steer has U.S. Competition for World's Largest Bovine

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:19:21 GMT

An Australian steer the height of a professional quarterback has some competition for world’s biggest bovine and a good chunk of them are American cattle.

Knickers, a nearly larger than life Holstein , captivated the internet because of his size. The steer from Western Australia weighs more than 3,000 lb. and measures in at 6 foot 4 inches. At that height Knickers is not only the same size as Super Bowl winning quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning, the steer is in the running for world’s tallest steer.

Once news spread of Knickers size a host of cattle stepped up to the measuring tape to throw their names into the contest.

A California steer named Cowboy comes in at very similar measurements standing 6 foot 4 inches and weighing 3,000 lb.

“He’s just under a hair, and when I mean hair, a hair, under the Guinness World Record for largest steer,” says Lindsey Krause, owner of Cowboy.

To the north, a steer at Kismet Creek Farm in Manitoba, Canada , named Dozer measures in at 6 foot 5 inches. Similar to Cowboy and Knickers, the Canadian entry to the contest is also a Holstein.

“He’s just the friendliest animal,” says Canadian farmer Karl Schoenrock of his large steer Dozer. “He’s not very intimidating at all, except for his size. If you stood next to him he’ll just lay down next to you.”

Back in the U.S., Mississippi farmer touts two steers that could be in running for world’s biggest steer.

Bubba Pinkard’s two steers, named Milo and Otis for the kid’s movie of the same title, weigh a combined 5,900 lb. Milo comes in at 6 foot 7 inches and 3,200 lb., eclipsing Australia’s viral sensation by 3 inches.

“I believe I’ve got Knickers beat with this old boy right here,” Pinkard tells local news station WLBT while sitting atop Otis with his buddy Milo nearby.

Otis is at nearly the same size as Knickers weighing 2,700 lb. and measuring 6 foot 4 inches. The two steers eat about 100 lb. of range cubes per day and feed on hay or graze grass to help keep their size.

“I saw that Knickers, they had him in a pen with a bunch of what I call yearlings,” said Pinkard. “They were young cows, young calves and if I put this one against a young calf, he’s gonna look huge.”

If Pinkard’s two Mississippi steers don’t qualify for the Gunnies World Records there might be another bovine in the Magnolia State that could qualify for its lack of size. Lil’ Bill, a premature calf weighing only 7.9 lb. , is also capturing the hearts of people online after Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine shared a picture of the calf on Facebook. The small calf is being cared for by veterinarians and they are trying to determine if Lil’ Bill suffers from a form of dwarfism.

AgDay TV national reporter Betsy Jibben has been doing her own research into the world’s biggest bovine and she found a young dairy cow named Paige who could contend in the future:

Forget Knickers. Meet Paige. She’s only 68 inches tall 😜 (and from a California dairy). #agchat pic.twitter.com/C27PDxpiff
— Betsy Jibben (@BetsyJibben) December 10, 2018

For more on big and small cattle read the following stories:

California Targets Dairy Cows to Combat Global Warming

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 03:00:00 GMT

California is taking its fight against global warming to the farm. The nation’s leading agricultural state is now targeting greenhouse gases produced by dairy cows and other livestock.

Despite strong opposition from farmers, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in September that for the first time regulates heat-trapping gases from livestock operations and landfills.

Cattle and other farm animals are major sources of methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a heat-trapping gas. Methane is released when they belch, pass gas and make manure.

“If we can reduce emissions of methane, we can really help to slow global warming,” said Ryan McCarthy, a science advisor for the California Air Resources Board, which is drawing up rules to implement the new law.

Livestock are responsible for 14.5 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, with beef and dairy production accounting for the bulk of it, according to a 2013 United Nations report.

Since the passage of its landmark global warming law in 2006, California has been reducing carbon emissions from cars, trucks, homes and factories, while boosting production of renewable energy.

In the nation’s largest milk-producing state, the new law requires dairies and other livestock operations to reduce methane emissions 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030. State officials are developing the regulations, which take effect in 2024.

“We expect that this package ... and everything we’re doing on climate, does show an effective model forward for others,” McCarthy said.

But dairy farmers say the new regulations will drive up costs when they’re already struggling with five years of drought, low milk prices and rising labor costs. They’re also concerned about a newly signed law that will boost overtime pay for farmworkers.

“It just makes it more challenging. We’re continuing to lose dairies. Dairies are moving out of state to places where these costs don’t exist,” said Paul Sousa, director of environmental services for Western United Dairymen.

The dairy industry could be forced to move production to states and countries with fewer regulations, leading to higher emissions globally, Sousa said.

“We think it’s very foolish for the state of California to be taking this position,” said Rob Vandenheuvel, general manager for the Milk Producers Council. “A single state like California is not going to make a meaningful impact on the climate.”

Regulators are looking for ways to reduce so-called enteric emissions — methane from the bodily functions of cows. That could eventually require changes to what cattle eat.

But the biggest target is dairy manure, which accounts for about a quarter of the state’s methane emissions.

State regulators want more farmers to reduce emissions with methane digesters, which capture methane from manure in large storage tanks and convert the gas into electricity.

The state has set aside $50 million to help dairies set up digesters, but farmers say that’s not nearly enough to equip the state’s roughly 1,500 dairies.

New Hope Dairy, which has 1,500 cows in Sacramento County, installed a $4 million methane digester in 2013, thanks to state grants and a partnership with the local utility, which operates the system to generate renewable power for the grid.

But co-owner Arlin Van Groningen, a third-generation farmer, says he couldn’t afford one if he had to buy and run it himself.

“The bottom line is it’s going to negatively impact the economics of the California dairy industry,” Van Groningen said of the new law. “In the dairy business, the margins are so slim that something like this will force us out of state.”

State officials say they’re committed to making sure the new regulations work for farmers and the environment.

“There’s a real opportunity here to get very significant emissions reductions at fairly low cost, and actually in a way that can bring economic benefits to farmers,” Ryan said.

California Moves to Add Methane Limits to Climate Agenda

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:59:33 GMT

California Democrats are taking further steps to advance the state’s ambitious climate-change agenda, agreeing to regulate methane emissions from landfills and dairy farms for the first time and approving $900 million in spending on environmental programs.

The approval came in the final hours of the two-year legislative session Wednesday following a flurry of negotiations involving Gov. Jerry Brown, Democratic legislative leaders and the affected industries.

It was approved just a week after Democrats voted to extend California’s landmark climate change law, the most aggressive in the nation, by another 10 years, solidifying the state’s reputation as an environmental leader through at least 2030. That move, pushed by Brown and environmentalists, came amid fierce opposition from oil companies and other business interests.

The legislation, which now heads to the Democratic governor’s desk, would require steep reductions in a variety of climate-changing gases known as short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, HFC gases used in aerosols and air conditionnts and soot, known as black carbon. While these pollutants live in the atmosphere for relatively short periods, they have an outsized impact on climate change, according to legislative researchers.

“With this bill we prove again that California doesn’t shy away from tackling major climate change legislation. We lead,” said Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who wrote the bill and brokered the compromise with the dairy industry.

The compromise package, tied to $50 million in methane emissions funding, would set a requirement that dairies and livestock producers reduce methane emissions from manure to 40 percent below their 2013 levels by 2030. It allows for the regulation of cow flatulence — another source of methane emissions — if experts determine that technology exists to reduce it.

California would also be pushed to significantly increase composting in order to reduce organic waste, which emits greenhouse gases when it breaks down in landfills. SB1383 sets a goal of reducing the flow of food products to landfills by 50 percent within four years.

While the bill has the support of some environmental groups, others were angry that Lara made concessions to ease the transition for the dairy industry, including a delay in implementation until 2024.

“It’s important that we reduce emissions of these super-pollutants rapidly,” said Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, which initially supported Lara’s proposal but dropped its support once the changes were made.

Lawmakers also approved a $900 million spending package that for environmental programs, agreeing to spend nearly two-thirds of the available money generated by the state’s cap on carbon pollution under a deal between the Democratic governor and top Democratic legislative leaders.

The deal includes $363 million for clean vehicle incentives and hundreds of millions for urban plants and efforts to create cleaner air in disadvantaged communities. It also includes $50 million to reduce emissions of methane and other climate-changing gases associated with landfills and dairy production

“This plan gets us the most bang for the buck,” Brown said in a statement. “It directs hundreds of millions where it’s needed most - to help disadvantaged communities, curb dangerous super pollutants and cut petroleum use - while saving some for the future.”

The compromise ends two years of indecision over what to do with $1.4 billion in revenues collected from California’s fee on polluters, known as cap-and-trade. About 60 percent of program revenues are earmarked for specific projects including high-speed rail. The spending announced Wednesday covers the remaining 40 percent and also leaves $462 million for future years.

De Leon had proposed spending nearly all the available funds, and Rendon and Brown, who advocated a more frugal approach, particularly given plummeting revenue and uncertainty about the program’s long-term viability.

It comes just a week after Democrats voted to extend California’s landmark climate change law, the most aggressive in the nation, by another 10 years, solidifying the state’s reputation as an environmental leader through at least 2030. That move, pushed by Brown and environmentalists, came amid fierce opposition from oil companies and other business interests.

Pollution permits consistently sold out after the cap-and-trade program began in 2012, regularly generating billions of dollars to combat climate change. But demand this year has plummeted amid a legal challenge that threatens to end the program.

Republicans have consistently opposed the program as an illegal tax and rejected the spending plan Wednesday.

The money “goes to many Democrat pet projects throughout the state at the expense of wildfire prevention issues and pursues long-term greenhouse gas reduction goals that will continue to harm families and jobs,” said Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula.

California Farms Going Thirsty as Drought Burns $5 Billion Hole

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:58:03 GMT

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Near the confluence of the Merced and San Joaquin rivers, the heart of the California farm belt, Bob Kelley watches the driest year ever erode water supplies and prospects for the dairy business his family began in 1910.

The amount of water available for the 2,800 acres of corn and alfalfa Kelley grows to feed more than 6,500 cows may drop as much as two thirds, so fewer crops will be planted and some animals will be sold to avoid the expense of buying grain, he said by telephone from Newman, about 83 miles southeast of San Francisco.

“It would impact us for not just 2014, but all of 2015,” said Kelley, 60, who runs a local water district that will cut output by at least half. “I’m anticipating a very difficult time, and I’m probably the best off of anybody I know.”

The drought in California, the top U.S. agricultural producer at $44.7 billion, is depriving the state of water needed to produce everything from milk, beef and wine to some of the nation’s largest fruit and vegetable crops, including avocados, strawberries and almonds. Lost revenue in 2014 from farming and related businesses such as trucking and processing could reach $5 billion, according to estimates by the 300-member California Farm Water Coalition, an industry group.

The state was the driest ever in 2013, a third straight year of little moisture. California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Jan. 17 as arid conditions he called “unprecedented” continued well into the annual rainy season that runs from October through March. Reservoirs on Jan. 27 were at 61 percent of average, while the mountain snow-pack as of Dec. 30 that supplies most of the state’s water was at 20 percent of normal for that time of year, data show.

Dry Spell
Average rainfall in California was 7 inches last year, the lowest on record going back to 1895, said Michael Anderson, the state climatologist with the Department of Water Resources in Sacramento. Dry weather and drought will persist through 2014, predicted Drew Lerner, the president of World Weather Inc. in Overland Park, Kansas.

Fresno, the biggest city in the fertile San Joaquin Valley, got a record-low 3.01 inches last year, compared with an annual average of 11.5 inches, according to data from Accuweather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. Salinas, a city known as “the Salad Bowl of the World” for its production of lettuce, broccoli, mushrooms and strawberries, recorded 3.27 inches, compared with 15.46 inches normally. Los Angeles got less than 4 inches, compared with 15 normally.

Unplanted Crops
Farmers in the state probably will leave as much as 500,000 acres unplanted, or about 12 percent of last year’s principal crops, because they won’t have enough water to produce a harvest, which will mean fewer choices and higher prices for consumers, said Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition, a Sacramento-based group of farmers, water district managers and farm-related businesses.

“Any job that’s associated with agriculture is hurting,” Wade said. While some farmers were able to conserve water in years past, they won’t get “any preferential treatment” over uses by municipalities, he said.

Extreme weather around the world is wreaking havoc with farmers and threatening global food production. Dry weather in China turned the world’s second-biggest corn grower into a net importer of the grain in 2010, and ranchers in Texas have yet to recover from a record dry spell three years ago. One in eight people in the world go hungry, some of which can be blamed on drought, according to the United Nations.

U.S. retail prices for beef, bacon, lettuce and broccoli posted double-digit gains last year, and tomatoes are the most- expensive since May 2011, even as overall food inflation advanced just 1.4 percent, government data show.

Bigger Impact
California gets most of its rain in December, January and February, when crops are dormant or yet to be planted. A prolonged drought may change the way water is used.

Growers of lower-value seasonal crops, including melons, tomatoes and alfalfa, may make more money selling their water, said Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California-Davis. Farmers with higher-value crops from permanent vine or tree orchards including grapes or nuts may be willing to pay a premium, Lund said.

Many of the state’s 4,600 wine-grape growers are irrigating sooner than normal to fend against failing cover crops and the possibility of lower yields, said Ron Lopp, communications manager for the California Association of Winegrape Growers. Farmers produced $4.45 billion of grapes in 2012, data show.

“A lot of the groundwater is being depleted to the point that it’s tough to pump the water out of the ground,” Lopp said by telephone from Sacramento. “We’d need a ‘maybe we should start building an ark’ amount of rain,” to get water levels back to normal, he said.

2009 Drought
In 2009, a prolonged drought caused $340 million in revenue losses in the San Joaquin Valley, the center of the state’s agricultural production, said Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, citing University of California data. About 285,000 acres were left fallow in the valley and 9,800 jobs were lost, he said.

“There’s the potential for higher economic impacts this time around based on an increase in permanent crop acreage and the water situation,” Lyle said by telephone from Sacramento. “We know what happened the last time we were in a drought-type situation. We think in 2014 it could be worse.”

The California Farm Water Coalition, founded in 1989 during a six-year drought, said the state underestimated the impact in 2009. Based on models used by the University of California, direct losses in agricultural revenue in 2014 could be $1.6 billion, with the total economic impact reaching $5 billion when farmworker wages, processing and transportation are included, according to Wade, the group’s executive director.

Livestock Concern
The dry spell is of immediate concern for cattle ranchers because of a “severe shortage” of grazing land, and some are considering reducing herds, Lyle said. The industry generated $3.3 billion in 2012 revenue. A drought in 1977 generated $566.5 million in agricultural losses, of which three quarters was from livestock, according to a state report.

The drought is another blow to dairies, by far the state’s largest agricultural business with 2012 revenue of $6.9 billion, producing 20 percent of the nation’s milk output. Farmers have been struggling with losses or less profit as feed costs surged to a record two years ago, outpacing milk prices, according to Michael Marsh, the Chief Executive Officer of Western United Dairymen, a Modesto-based trade association.

Cows usually produce less milk during a drought, according to New York-based broker INTL FCStone Inc., and concern for reduced supply from California have contributed to a rally in prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Milk Rally
Class III milk futures, tracking a variety used to make cheese, climbed to $22.98 per 100 pounds yesterday, the highest for the most-active contract since trading began in January 1996. The commodity has climbed 19 percent this year, the second-biggest gain among 64 commodities tracked by Bloomberg, behind greenhouse gas-emission credits. Cheese, up 16 percent, ranks fourth.

Using lower-quality feed during the drought may curb milk output for another year, until cows go through a new calving and lactation cycle, according to Kelley, who has about 3,000 milking cows. Buying feed from outside California may prove too costly, forcing more dairies to sell or close down, he said.

Ray Souza, a 67-year-old dairyman in Turlock, said he sold about a dozen of his replacement cattle at auction last week from among the 900 Holstein cows he owns to conserve feed and water for the main milking herd.

Selling Cows
Souza said he sold the animals about 16 months earlier than normal because he is increasingly concerned about the fate of the corn and oat crops he grows for feed, with the prospect that water supplies will be cut “substantially.”

Turlock Irrigation District, founded in 1887 as the state’s first publicly owned irrigation district, probably will cut its water allocation this year to farmers in half, to a record low of 20 inches to 22 inches of water per acre in the season that runs from about March to October, said Michelle Reimers, a district spokeswoman.

That may not be enough for Souza’s 260-acre corn crop. “We may have to leave some of those acres fallow,” said Souza, who took over his family’s dairy farm when he was in high school. “I am concerned. What we can’t grow, we have to go out into the market and compete for that expensive feed.”

Much of the acreage in the San Joaquin Valley has been converted over the past decade from cotton and row crops planted every year to nuts grown on permanent trees, said David Goldhamer, a former University of California-Davis water management specialist, who has studied droughts for 30 years. While trees generate more cash, they can use twice as much water.

Nut Growers
Orchards producing nuts may see yields drop by 25 percent this season, he said. Almonds are the third-largest farm product in the state, generating $4.35 billion in 2012.

“The worst case scenario is that the trees will die,” Goldhamer said. “You’ve got to be able to shift water. Growers can choose to not irrigate alfalfa in a drought year and simply replant when water is available. Not so with tree crops.”

Not all farmers are expecting smaller crops.

Dale Huss, 57, who grows 5,500 acres of artichokes, the state’s official vegetable, at Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville, said he will harvest a normal crop of about 100 million artichokes this season, even after his farm got less than 2 inches of rain in 2013. He irrigated with pumped groundwater and recycled treated water from municipalities.

Avocado Groves
Avocado growers could pay as much as $4,800 an acre this year to irrigate their groves and battle high salinity levels in the soil, said Tom Bellamore, president of the state’s Irvine- based avocado commission. A few small growers in San Diego and Riverside counties have folded, he said.

“Other than an increase in cost of production to get the current fruit off the tree, we don’t expect much impact,” Bellamore said. California will continue to provide 95 percent of U.S. avocados, he said.

California’s strawberry growers supply about 86 percent of the domestic output, and prices that usually peak at the end of each year were 0.4 percent lower in December than 12 months earlier, government data show.

The dry weather is increasing irrigation costs for growers, who must grapple with a lack of rain that leaves crops dusty and more exposed to pests, including mites, said Carolyn O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for the California Strawberry Commission in Watsonville.

“Even if we got a fair amount of rain for this season, this is a longer term problem,” O’Donnell said. “This is going to take several years of normal rainfall to help recharge aquifers and reservoirs.”

Fewer Tomatoes
If the drought persists, Philip Bowles, 62, is considering forgoing some summer planting of tomatoes and vegetables at his family’s 175-year-old Los Banos farm, which he said would mean about a 40 percent loss on his initial investment.

“Agriculture’s a cyclical business, and rain is a cyclical thing, but this is way out at one end of the bell curve,” said Bowles, the chairman of Bowles Farming Co. “I’m looking out my window, and it’s beautiful bluebird weather, and it depresses me.”

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