Dairy industry rebounds at last in Northern San Joaquin Valley

Dairy farming in the Northern San Joaquin Valley has turned profitable, at long last, thanks mainly to booming exports for powdered milk and other products. It’s welcome news for the several thousand residents who work in the plants that process milk from the region’s farms. But not all is rosy. Farmers have to pay down debt built up over half a decade of generally low prices, and they face a drought that likely will squeeze their feed supplies this year. “Everyone is glad the prices have improved, but there is just so much to make up because of the tremendous losses,” said Lynne McBride, executive director of the California Dairy Campaign, a farmer group based in Turlock. Read More