Posted on 02/24/2005 8:42:49 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CHINO, Calif. (AP) -- Herds upon herds of Southern California dairy cows are mired udder deep in a thick stew of water, manure and mud - a consequence of record rainfall that has brought economic disaster to farmers.
Dairy farmers said this month's deluge in an important region of the nation's top milk-producing state has cost at least $38 million - or at least $2,000 per day per dairy - in lost milk production, dead and sickened animals and damaged infrastructure.
The economic hit to the region is the worst since 1997, an infamous El Nino year when dairy farmers in San Bernardino and Riverside counties lost about $60 million and the area was declared a federal disaster area, said Robert Feenstra, executive director of the Chino-based Milk Producers Council.
Cold and wet cows are stranded in gobs of mud and standing water, but farmers are limited in how they can siphon off the floodwaters because of strict laws regulating dairy runoff.
Normally, the region receives about 14 inches of rain in the entire winter season, but this year it has registered more than 30 inches since October, said Art Marquez, 27, a third-generation dairy farmer in this community about 40 miles east of Los Angeles.
Marquez, who has 2,000 cows at two dairies, said he's lost at least $2,000 a day to the rain over the past few weeks.
"We have nowhere to go with the water; the ground is soaked. Our dairies aren't designed to deal with this. It's the third-worst rain year on record," Marquez said.
San Bernardino and Riverside counties, two largely rural counties east of Los Angeles, together rank No. 2 for milk production in California. There are 250 dairies in the area with about 200,000 cows.
California dairies produced 35.4 billion pounds of milk in 2003, the last reported year, accounting for more than $4 billion annually, according to the state's Department of Food and Agriculture. Southern California milk accounts for $760 million of that and about 18 percent came from San Bernardino and Riverside counties, according to dairy industry officials.
San Bernardino County, which by itself ranks fourth among California milk-producing counties, has lost $26 million between Feb. 1 and Wednesday, said Nathan de Boom, the council's assistant general manager. Riverside County, which ranks seventh in California, has lost $12 million in that period, he said.
The state's Department of Food and Agriculture sets the minimum price that dairy producers receive from milk processors. State economists set the price monthly and would consider any impact on supply and demand when setting that price, said Steve Lyle, a department spokesman.
The loss of milk production in the Chino-area likely would not affect consumers since other regions in California and nationally are important suppliers, said Bill VerBoort, general manager of the California Dairy Herd Improvement Association.
In a normal rainy season, each dairy farmer in the region usually loses about two cows a month to exhaustion and disease. The 250 dairies this year in the region are losing about a cow a day. In 1997, Southern California dairy farmers lost 19,000 cows.
The rain affects milk production in several ways, de Boom said. Cows resist lying down in standing water and will stand for days in the soggy muck until they collapse from exhaustion.
Those that don't die often get sick and weak, and many produce less milk because they expend so much energy slogging through water that can reach 3 feet deep.
Since Feb. 1, the region has received about 19 inches of rain and milk production per dairy has dropped an estimated 930 gallons per day.
Feenstra said the council has provided its loss estimates to the Office of Emergency Services and farmers hope to receive federal aid.
"The damage is so devastating, farmers aren't going to be able to survive without some help," he said. "The mud and the mire is several feet deep and it's getting worse every day. A lot of the facilities are overflowing with water."
The federal Clean Water Act mandates that dairy farms keep manure and polluted water on their facility, said David Beckman, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has sued Chino dairies in the past over polluted runoff.
Feenstra said that a state environmental law requires dairy farmers to contain about 14 inches of regular rainfall, plus up to 5 inches in a 24-hour period.
"I've done the best I can. It's an ugly sight right now, it's just complete depression for me," dairy farmer Marquez said. "Usually our lawns are kept and it's really nice and tidy, but it's just a battle right now."
The ski resorts in the Northwest are closed because SoCal is hogging all the rain and snow. Hava a heart SoCal people and let the rain go north!! Stop hogging all the water.
You'll take what we give ya, and like it!!
So when does the international aid start pouring in?
Wouldn't you think someone would be concerned for the poor cows? Transport them to higher (dryer) ground.
Project: "SAVE THE COWS"
200,000 cows/40-60 cows/truck....
Get the Texas Cowboys and have a "Cattle Drive".
In Chino, you have to diaper them before that is allowed.
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