Feb. 12 2018
Falling cow numbers and easing milk production in California were one of the dairy industry’s big stories in 2017
Sept. 11 2017
Over the next decade, California widened its lead dramatically in both categories. The high watermarks came in 2008 at 16.73 billion pounds and 592,000 cows. But things have changed a lot since then
July 3 2017
These are changing and challenging times for the nation’s largest milk-producing state. All of California’s major dairy industry measurements are declining and point to a future that is filled...
Feb. 13 2017
“This Recommended Decision proposes the issuance of a Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) regulating the handling of milk in California.”
Jan. 18 2017
The Golden State is known worldwide as a top producer of hundreds of crops and commodities. Due to the rich, abundant soil and ideal, long growing season, California farmers and ranchers have benefited
Dec. 19 2016
The “white wave of milk” that swamped California dairy cooperatives for decades is gone.Rapid expansion that began in the Golden State in the 1970s came with a 24/7 problem for co-ops
Feb. 15 2016
California is the nation's top exporter. One day each week, every U.S. cow produces milk destined for a consumer outside of America's borders. While that statement is accurate, cows in California are working...
Nov. 30 2015
The downturn in California milk production during 2015 is almost unprecedented. For 30 years in a row (1979 to 2008), total output in the nation's largest dairy state went up. Gains were usually large,...
Sept. 28 2015
Pull up a chair and get very comfortable, because the official USDA hearing to gather testimony about establishing a Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) in California is going to be a marathon
Aug. 25 2014
Yes, there is a "price penalty" for dairying in California, as noted in the June 23 Hoard's Dairyman Intel "A price penalty for dairying in California." The current California system is the penalty. The...
Feb. 14 2014
Maybe it was the inch or so of rain that had fallen during the previous several days, or maybe the perpetual optimism that goes with being a farmer of any kind. Either way, there was no panic about the...
June 15 2013
Yes, California's pricing system is killing its dairies Leading cheese maker believes the reason isn't low prices, but the system itself. By Hoard's Dairyman Staff If the headline of this article looks...
April 25 2013
California's pricing system is killing its dairies Some are already gone. More will follow. The big question is, how many can be saved? The greatest milk-producing machine the U.S. dairy industry has ever...
Feb. 10 2013
California and Wisconsin account for 34 percent of the nation's milk. However, market forces impact milk checks differently. The dramatic upward runs in grain prices over the last 18 months have hampered...
Dec. 6 2012
California's largest dairy cooperatives have renewed a plea for help to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), warning that survival of the state's dairy industry is at risk
Aug. 10 2012
Bad has turned to worse for milk producers in the nation's largest dairy state. Few, if any, California dairies managed to fully recover from the 2009 cost:price crisis before another outbreak in 2012
June 29 2012
Over the years, nothing has repeatedly brought out the spirit of cooperation between dairy cooperatives like low milk prices and tough times. Adversarial attitudes arrive when times are good, but working...