US dairy farms grapple with high feed prices, drought

Expensive feed and harsh weather have presented challenges for California farmers.

Tulare, the United States — Cody Baker’s family traces its roots in Tulare County, the heart of California’s dairy industry, back almost 100 years. His mother’s side of the family migrated from the Azore Islands in Portugal and took up dairy farming, and his father’s side moved to California and took up beef cattle farming after the Dust Bowl droughts ravaged Arkansas during the Great Depression. Baker has carried on the family’s tradition of working in the agricultural industry, with a resume that runs the gamut from livestock husbandry and farm management to crop science and processing. Three years ago, he founded his own feed distribution company called California Livestock Services, which sells dairy farmers and livestock producers food for their cows such as hay and alfalfa, as well as providing consulting services. Even by the standards of an industry where no two days are the same, business has felt uncertain recently.