California Dairy: Intensification, Concentration, and Regional Variation

Keywords: dairy, animal agriculture, California, mixed methods, mapping, GIS
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Dairy is critical to California – it is the state’s largest agricultural commodity, and the state leads the country in dairy production. This was achieved over the past four decades through intensification practices centered on increasing herd sizes and improving technological efficiencies. Within California there remains a spectrum of farming practices, most noticeably between pasture-based, organic dairies in coastal counties, and industrial dry lot dairies in the San Joaquin Valley. Both regions experienced intensification over the past half century, but the economic and environmental outcomes have varied between them. This study uses mixed methods to describe changes in the industry, starting with mapping production and census data from to visualize dairy intensification as it occurred over a 40-year period, followed by case studies in the remaining dairy production regions. Our analysis combines spatio-temporal data and regional contexts to understand how the changing dairy industry has impacted the farmers, cows, and natural resources upon which it relies.