I know how much I love beef, and I'm pretty sure you know how much I love beef, but I decided to take a different route today. For my Dairy Science Feeds and Feeding class we had to write a paper on the history of the California Dairy Industry. In case you wanted to know, here is a brief summary for you about something I enjoyed learning about!
California hasn’t always been the leading dairy producing state in the nation. Wisconsin was in the lead until 1993 when California passed it in leading dairy production. Yet the industry in California began well before the Gold Rush. It all began when the Spanish settled California and began the state’s history as well as the dairy industry’s existence. In addition to the herd if Longhorn cattle that roamed the land, each soldier was awarded two milk cows, according to a law of 1795. The native missionaries who taught the word of God also taught the soldiers how to make what is now the equivalent of Monterey Jack cheese. When American’s began to arrive to California around 1840, they brought with them the love for fresh cheese and milk. Women were responsible for tending to the cows that the families were able to keep, but in 1848, when gold was discovered in California, the dairy industry in California changed drastically. California’s dairy industry has come a long way since its creation!
With the population increasing greatly in California due to the Gold Rush and the demand for dairy products rising, the need to expand homestead dairies was extremely necessary. By 1860 California had about 100,000 milk cows in areas around San Francisco and Sacramento, the states two most populated areas. Butter was the primary product in the beginning stages of the industry starting at 25 cents per pound! However, by the mid-1850s the Steele family had settled in the San Francisco area from Ohio and changed the face of the industry. Mrs. Steele had hired an Indian man to rope some near-by cattle which she milked. She used her grandmother’s English cookbook to create cheddar cheese from the milk of those cows.
The family’s success in the dairy industry led to an expansion from their original Point Reyes expansion. Their dairy is known as the first in the United States to become a commercial dairy selling high quality cheese and butter. However, shortly after the beginning of their success the Steele family did not own the only dairy in Point Reyes. The Laird family operated a dairy close in location to the Steele family’s dairy and in 1859 the Laird cheese took first place from the Steele family at the California State Fair. Yet, as settlement continued, more and more people gained interest in the dairy industry. The Shafter brothers, attorneys from Vermont settled the Point Reyes peninsula in an ownership dispute, which resulted in the growth of the Point Reyes dairy industry, making it the largest in the western United States. As time passed by and the diary industry grew, changes were made to production cycles. At the peak of its business, the Point Reyes dairies peaked at 31 ranches. They were located on mostly flat ground, and the milking was done outside in a well-drained central corral, as it rarely rained. Each milker took on about 20-25 cows and could milk them in about two hours. The butter of Point Reyes was so popular that dairies around the area were counter fitting it. The Shafter brothers discovered this and began stamping their butter boxes with P.R., creating the first brand on a consumer product in California.
As dairying became more popular in the state of California venturing into areas like the San Joaquin Valley and San Luis Obispo County areas, California was well on its way to becoming the leading dairy state in the nation. With the introduction of new technology like cream separators and the first creamery in Ferndale in 1889, the California dairy industry began to explode with surplus. This led the dairymen in California to export their products. In 1891 the Dairymen’s Union of California (renamed the California Dairy Association in 1893) was created to improve distribution of the dairy products. Since the 1990’s consumers have become more concerned with food safety and product handling. For more than 100 years, the dairy industry has worked toward achieving regulatory success with its products. Today dairy products lead the commodity list in California, and California leads the nation in dairy products. Dairymen produce a high quality product with ease, because of advancements in milking technology and herd health practices!
Source: "Two Centuries Of Prominence And Personalities | California Milk Advisory Board." California Milk Advisory Board | The California Dairy Press Room. Web. 08 Feb. 2011.
Thank you very much for reading! I hope you learned something new!
Love,
Agriculture
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