State Economy
Tulare
County - In Tulare and Kings counties where the dairy industry is
king, it probably did not come as news that the dairy industry has such
a huge impact on the state's economy, but even the figures released by
the California Milk Advisory Board are staggering for Central Valley residents.
The study released last week showed that California's No. 1 agriculture commodity was responsible for creating 443,574 jobs and $63 billion in economic activity for the state during 2008. The same study in 2007 showed California dairies created $61 billion in economic activity and 435,000 jobs for the state.
Tulare County is the center of the state's dairy industry, with nearly 494,000 cows milked in the county in 2008, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture. Kings County is also a big player in the milk industry with nearly 184,000 cows in 2008. Between Tulare and Kings counties, there are 485 dairies, nearly a fourth of the number in the entire state.
The typical California dairy cow and farm stimulates a positive ripple effect throughout the state, according to the research conducted by J/D/G Consulting Inc., an independent dairy industry research firm based in Florida. Specifically, a typical dairy farm in California generates $33.1 million in economic activity and 232 jobs in the state, including 'on-the-farm' and 'beyond-the-farm' jobs like milk tanker drivers, grocery store clerks, feed farmers and employees at milk processing and cheese plants, among others.
When compared to the impact of other notable California industries, the dairy industry provides more economic stimulus and jobs to the state yearly than either the motion picture/television or wine industries. The most recent statistics available for these industries show that the motion picture/television industry contributes $35 billion and 208,230 jobs (2007) and the wine industry provides $59 billion and 330,000 jobs (2008).
“This research offers a perspective on how vital the dairy industry is to California with every dollar from production and sales of California milk contributing to the economy,” said Stan G. Andre, CEO of the CMAB. “In addition to providing one of the four food groups that feeds our local communities, a typical dairy cow generates more than $34,000 in economic activity and a herd of 100 cows creates 25 jobs for California residents each year.”
Richard Cotta, CEO of Visalia-based California Dairies Inc., one of the state's largest milk processing companies, knows firsthand how big the diary industry is in the state.
“I think it's very, very significant, especially in the Valley,” he said, adding that most dairy jobs are year round and many provide health benefits and are well-paying.
However, when most think of the dairy industry as barns and cows, it is much more. Cotta said there are hundreds of thousands of jobs related to the dairy industry.
“Just in our own plants we have 1,000 truck loads a day. If you have that many come in, you have a lot going out as butter, cheese and other products,” he said.
No. 1 Here
In Tulare County, where milk is the No. 1 commodity and was valued at $1.8 billion in 2008, farm jobs make up for about a third of all jobs. The majority of those farm jobs are directly or indirectly tied to the dairy industry, as well as those in manufacturing and transportation.
California's dairy families were responsible for producing more than 41 billion pounds of milk in 2008, a figure that is expected to exceed 46 billion pounds by 2020.
According to the study, in 2008 California had 1,905 dairies with 1.8 million dairy cows that supplied milk to 117 dairy processing plants, which produced cheese, fluid milk, ice cream, butter and other dairy products that carry the Real California Milk and Real California Cheese seals. These seals help consumers identify dairy products made with milk from California dairy farms. Since the introduction of the Real California Milk seal in 2007, awareness of and purchase intent for California dairy products has increased significantly.
Other highlights from the study:
· The California dairy industry created 443,574 jobs in 2008 accounting for approximately three percent of the jobs in the state.
· California's dairy industry generated $63 billion in economic impact in 2008 as compared to $61.4 billion in 2007, a 2.6 percent increase overall.
· The typical California dairy farm in 2008 generated $33.1 million in economic activity and produced 21,869,370 pounds of milk, an increase of more than nine million pounds since 1998.
· The typical California cow in 2008 generated $34,165 of economic activity, and produced 22,344 pounds of milk.
· California's total milk production has grown from 27.6 billion pounds in 1998 to 41.2 billion pounds in 2008. Tulare County cows produced 10.7 billion pounds of that total.
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of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit
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