June 2, 2017
CapitalPress.com
7
Regs, labor shortage cast shadow on dairies
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
Humboldt County, Calif.,
dairyman John Vevada said
the best part of his day does
not involve being in the pas-
ture with the cows.
“My wife, Kris, insists
that all the family has break-
fast together before we start
the day,” he said. “After my
two sons graduated from col-
lege both of them came back
to work on the farm. So the
four of us sit down and talk
about the day’s calendar and
plans for the future. I am very
fortunate for this time.”
He said he really doesn’t
have any bad days.
Vevada was born in Hum-
boldt County in Northern
California and hasn’t left
except for college, where he
majored in animal husbandry.
He has spent 45 years in the
dairy industry.
“We milk 600 organic
Holstein cows for a couple of
reasons,” he said. “I get bet-
ter strength and more genetics
with Holsteins than with any
other breed.”
In the beginning he bought
50 cross-breed cows and start-
ed a few registered Holsteins.
“I was able to establish
a herd that built a stronger
dairy,” he said.
The farm as been certified
organic since 2006. At the time
they were converting, the farm
was milking over 1,000 cows
and he was working long days.
Vevada acknowledges that the
schedule was “killing him.”
Today his average day is
10-12 hours a day with nine
employees to help.
Vevada pastures the cows
on 800 acres. The weather is
perfect for the cows, he said.
The ocean fog keeps the farm
cool compared to the scorch-
ing temperatures inland. The
lush pasture is the farm’s only
Courtesy of the Vevada Family
The Vevada dairy family. In the back row are John and Kris. In the front are Ronald, left, and Robert.
They milk 600 certified organic Holstein cows in Humboldt County in Northern California.
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for granted. Now we have to
hire consultants to review the
paperwork and that becomes
very cumbersome — and the
regs are getting worse.”
Labor and regulations are
the primary reason many farm-
ers are leaving the industry.
Vevada also said the indus-
try is competitive and unless a
farm is large it can’t compete.
There are 1,300-1,400 dairies
in California with an average
herd size of 1,200.
“Those new to the industry
don’t know what they are in
for,” he said. “So much capi-
tal is needed just to get started.
There are easier ways to make
a living.”
Most states welcome dairy
farms, but California is differ-
ent, he said.
“...California regulations
are so tight and overhead is so
high a farmer needs more cows
to spread the costs,” he said.
“California leads the nation in
dairy production, but I don’t
know for how long.”
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Vevada points out that there
are plenty of challenges.
“Labor is number one,” he
said. “Until somebody decides
to have immigration reform
we will have a difficult time
finding employees.”
“Number two is regulations
that involve everything: water
and air quality, regulating our
springs with water resources
and ground water,” he said.
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