Dairy farmers from the Southern California city of Chino have moved 10,000 cows into south-central Idaho over the past 18 months to escape sprawling urbanization, according to a power company official.
Glen Call, energy management representative for the Idaho Power Co., said the dairy farmers are moving their herds into the Jerome area from Chino, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles and southwest of Ontario.Ten dairies, each with about 1,000 milk-producing cows, have relocated, Call said. Jerome is in the irrigated farm land of south-central Idaho.
"They come up here and the price of land is low compared to California," Call said. "One man sold out because of constant problems. He sold a 1,200-cow dairy on 25 acres in Chino for $4.5 million. He bought 280 acres up here for about $2,000 per acre. Then he built a new 1,200-cow dairy."
Call said the dairy farmers in Chino are finding themselves surrounded by subdivisions and other housing. Neighbors complain about odors and other problems. Even though many of the dairies had been in the area for as long as two generations, some operators decided it wasn't worth it.
Regulations in the Chino area are becoming more strict, and taxes have gone up along with other operating expenses, Call said in a prepared statement.
The dairies are giving quite a boost to local milk production. Corrals are lighted at night so the cows will eat and drink more. Cows are milked every 12 hours.
"One dairy has been shipping about 75,000 pounds of milk per day," Call said. The milk is marketed in and out of the state. Some is shipped to Cache Valley, around Logan, Utah.
The dairies also have had to deal with odor and waste problems in their new locations. Jerome city and county officials are adopting new zoning ordinances and building covenants.
But Call believes the influx of dairies is going to continue.
"I have four major dairies right now just waiting for Jerome to complete its zoning requirements and covenants," he said. "Once they get things settled, I don't think there's any question that these dairies are going to continue to locate here."
It's more than just the availability of land that attracts the newcomers, Call said.
"These dairymen like Jerome because there is a good work ethic here," he said. "They can find employees who don't need constant supervision and there's a big available work force. Land is priced reasonably. Taxes are relatively low. Electricity costs a lot less than what they're used to paying. And Jerome is just a nice place to live."