Floodwaters in and around Tulare County are raising concerns related to herd health among the dairy operations in the region. The issue was highlighted at a recent meeting of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. Executive Director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau, Tricia Stever Blattler detailed how thousands of dairy cows have been displaced by the March storms.
“The amount of stress that has impacted the cow herds in this region has been extreme,” Stever Blattler noted. “With stress comes more health risks, more mastitis, more pneumonia, and ultimately heavier culling practices, and certainly herd health has a direct impact on milk production and losses.”
Diary operations had to move quickly to evacuate cattle to a variety of different areas that were not in the flood zone. Herd health has been only one of the issues dairy producers are working to navigate in relation to the floods. Stever Blattler said the flooding has impacted all aspects of dairy production. “From the ability to have rendering services picking up normal mortalities on the farm, to the ability to pick up milk, to the ability to get feed delivered into some of these dairies that are now completely bermed,” Stever Blattler explained to the Board.
The recovery process is expected to be a long one. Impacts from the flooding are likely to continue well beyond when the waters recede. In the near term, feeding the displaced livestock presents its own set of challenges.
“Some of the farm ground that is designated to service the dairy industry, that would be their silage and alfalfa crops, may be impacted for two to three growing seasons. This will add stress to price and availability for the industry,” said Stever Blattler. “In terms of finding alfalfa, we’re looking at sourcing that product from probably the Imperial Valley and out of state.”
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