What do California Dairies Look Like?

Adapted by Deanne Meyer - Livestock Waste Management Specialist, Jennifer Heguy - UCCE Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin Counties, Betsy Karle - UCCE Northern Sacramento Valley, Zaira Joaquin Morales – UC Davis

What is a “typical” dairy? Why does anyone or any agency care what typical dairies are?  Great questions.

Let’s start with the “who cares” question first. Everyone cares. Milk processors want to know where the milk resides. Sales folks like to know their clientele. Regulatory agencies want to identify where emissions come from. Basically, demographic information is valuable on several fronts.

Now for the second question. What is typical? California dairy cows produced 18.4% of the milk in the United States according to the latest figures. We have pasture and confinement dairies. We have a variety of housing and manure management systems as well. All of this information helps inform decisions that shape programs and policies.  

“Typical” is region specific within California.  Average herd size (milking and dry cows) varies by region within California: North Coast (370 cows), Central Valley (1403 cows) and Southern California (Chino/San Jacinto; 1002 cows). As expected, distribution of herd size also varies by Region. The figure (next page) shows herd distribution by housing type for Central Valley dairies (Region 5 Water Quality Control Board).

Knowing herd size distribution and housing type is important. One way to use this information is to think about the effectiveness of manure treatment technologies. We know herd size and housing affect the amount of manure that is collected and stored in solid or liquid forms. Attention to the use of manure treatment technologies to reduce methane emissions remains high.  One approach is to generate, collect, and utilize biogas (anaerobic digesters in clusters) to minimize methane emissions.  The other approach is to prevent manure from being in an anaerobic condition (keep solids out of ponds), referred to as “Alternative Manure Management Practices” (AAMP).

Link to PDF Version: What do California Dairies Look Like