SACRAMENTO (WTAQ) – The Wisconsin dairy industry’s main competition struggles under a continuing drought.
California’s milk production fell by almost 3 percent last month, as Wisconsin’s output jumped by more than 3.5 percent.
Steve Maddox, who runs a dairy farm halfway between L.A. and Sacramento, noted that this year’s drop followed strong milk production levels a year ago. Still, he says the quality of animal feed is lower due to the California drought.
He tells the Brownfield Ag News Service that some large dairies have been selling out — and a number of their cows have moved to the Midwest. Maddox said California’s almond growers knocked buds off their trees last year, reducing water usage just to keep the trees alive.
The situation is worse for grapes, in which thousands of acres were pulled out due to the lack of a premium market.
California Governor Jerry Brown recently ordered communities to reduce their water usage 15 to 25 percent. Agriculture is exempt, and Maddox says some have complained — but farms have still cut their water use considerably.
Federal water systems have reduced allocations up to 20 percent, on top of a previous 40 percent cut. Maddox says up to 700,000 acres of California farmland will be plowed but not seeded this year due to the lack of water.
Wisconsin has a drought of its own, but it’s not as bad. Still, Governor Scott Walker has declared a state of emergency, expecting the drought to continue into mid-May.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
