Cannabis dependency may also increase, which has been linked to other substance use, depression and low satisfaction with life. We found the number of days of cannabis use increased on average from 11 days pre-legalization to 13 days post-legalization, which may reflect movement toward cannabis abuse and dependency. A study in California found a link between the density of cannabis dispensaries and neighborhood ecology on cannabis abuse and dependency before the legalization of recreational cannabis. Of interest is whether the density of dispensaries in California overall, and particularly in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, occurred post-legalization and if cannabis use and dependency has risen disproportionately in some areas. Further research examining the long-term effects of legalized recreational cannabis on health outcomes, perceptions, and use, especially among young people and those with depression and other mental illness, is warranted. Studies should also focus on the characteristics of cannabis used such as potency, vertical grow rack system as well as the environmental and social impacts. Public health communications and evidence-based interventions on the potential health benefits and consequences of cannabis use are needed.
Previous work on dairy in California has typically focused on policy, natural resources, environmental footprints, and other factors related to milk production for the state as a whole , though some work has been attentive to regional differences in production and the typology of production systems found within the state . In 1896, Wickson wrote a report for the USDA titled “Dairying in California” which included a hand-drawn map of the dairying areas of California . So far, there has been no study of regional changes in dairy production over time in California. By mapping data at the county level, this research reveals spatial patterns and regional variations in California’s dairy industry obscured by typical state-level summaries of milk production. I begin with an overview of the history and geography of milk production in California. Milk is produced and consumed around the world, and the United States is the 2nd largest producer of milk, with California producing more than any other state. Dairy production in California began with European settlers, continued in line with population growth, was supported by research, development, and price stabilization, and was transformed by corral feeding which became a catalyst for rapid expansion and industrialization of milk production in Southern California. In a review of literature on the topic of dairy, I identify several themes related to the transformations occurring in dairy industries: intensification, mechanization, specialization, enlargement, consolidation, regional concentration, and alternatives.
These effects are understood through the lens of agrarian political economy, including the capital penetration of the natural barriers of agriculture, productivism, and the treadmill of production. In the methodology section, I detail the steps taken to collect and process 41 years of county-level data on milk production and operations, and then analyzing the data using cartographic visualization and change calculations. The result is a series of maps that show the volume of milk, number of farms operations, and distribution of production across the state changing over time. The data is then summarized by nine distinct agricultural regions. Finally, I summarize the patterns of change seen in California’s county-level milk production and operations and the types of change in large scale dairy production described in the literature review as three interdependent, multi-scalar transformations: intensification, consolidation, and regional concentration. It is important to begin with an overview of dairy production, as is it practice in the US and Global North. Like all mammals, cows must be pregnant and give birth to induce lactation and produce milk. After birth, calves are removed from the mother. Most of the calves are destined for meat production, and about half the heifer calves are raised as replacement heifers to enter the dairy herd in two years. Young heifers are often given growth hormones to help them reach maturity sooner. In the United States, a cow is typically milked for 2-4 lactation cycles before she is culled, either “voluntary culling” for her decline in productivity, or “involuntary culling” for health reasons like mastitis or lameness. The longevity of dairy cows has been declining . Worldwide, 81% of milk is derived from cattle, then buffaloes, goats, sheep, and camels .
Almost all the milk in California is from two breeds of cattle Holsteins and Jerseys. Jersey cows are smaller, eat less, and produce less milk per cow, but their milk tends to have a higher proportion of milk fat and other milk solids compared to Holsteins. Cattle are ruminants meaning they eat forages for many hours a day and have multiple stomachs to digest their fibrous diet. Most dairy cows in California are fed rations of alfalfa hay, corn silage, small grain silage, corn, and oil seed meals as well a range of agricultural by-products, such as almond hulls. A very small share of milk in California, about 2%, is from organic dairies where cows are required to get a significant share of the forage component from pasture. The United States is the second largest producer of milk in the world, after India, followed by China, Pakistan, Brazil, and Germany. New Zealand is the largest producer per capita and exporter of milk after a significant production boom in the 1980s. New Zealand, the United States, Germany, France, Australia, and Ireland have the highest milk surpluses . Within the United States, California is the number one producer of milk, followed by Wisconsin, Idaho, Texas and New York . The following section describes the geography of California and its relationship to agriculture and dairy production. California has a remarkable diversity of landscapes, climates, and agricultural activities. The state is home to the lowest and highest elevations in the contiguous United States, with the Sierra Nevada mountains and Death Valley National Park. Four mountain ranges encompass the Central Valley – the Sierra Nevada to the east, the Cascade Range to the north, the Coastal Range to the west and the Tehachapi Mountains to the south . The Sierra Nevada mountains accumulate many feet of snow during the winter and serve as the sole source of water for rivers and reservoirs in the Central Valley during the dry summers. Major rivers of the Central Valley are the Sacramento from the north and the San Joaquin from the southeast; both originate from numerous forks in the mountains and converge at the California Delta before flowing into the San Francisco Bay . Tulare Lake Basin, a dry lake that rarely floods makes up the lower third of the Central Valley as seen in Figure 1 . The Coast Ranges to the west form a topographic wall, shielding the valley of moist air from the Pacific Ocean. The 840-milelong coastline collects all the moisture and fog, creating a variety of climates in different valleys and hillsides along the coast from the sunny beaches in San Diego, the towering cliffs of Big Sur, the hills and valleys of Napa and Sonoma, and the redwood forests in Humboldt. The topography of the state with mountains to the north and east, desert to the south, and the vast ocean to the west originally created an insulated region of agricultural production, where production, processing, and consumption all happened within the state. The warm and dry Mediterranean climate of the Central Valley offers a long growing season and fosters agricultural diversity. Without rain for nine months of the year, grow rack with lights the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers are the lifeblood of agriculture in the Central Valley. As a result, California is a highly productive state for agriculture – growing hundreds of types of crops and many livestock products, and producing half of all US-grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables. A diverse list of livestock and crop commodities comprise the top farm revenue commodities: milk, grapes, almonds, cattle and calves, strawberries, pistachios, lettuce, tomatoes, walnuts, and rice . This list accounts for only 60% of the total farm revenue in California. For comparison, in Iowa, the second most important farm state, the top four commodities account for more than 90% of farm revenue .
Despite its agricultural diversity, milk is the number one commodity from California in terms of revenue, and despite the multiple other states with high rates of milk production like Wisconsin, California has been the number one producer of milk in the United States since 1993 . Although the California dairy industry has a long history, the expansion of the dairy industry in California and its global prominence is relatively recent.Dairy has been a part of the history of California since the land was first colonized by Europeans. In the late 1700s, Spanish settlers brought cattle with them from Mexico to the Catholic missions along the coast of Alta California. The cattle were primarily used for meat, hide, and tallow, but milk and cheese were an essential part of the mission diet . A Russian fur trapping settlement at Fort Bragg also raised dairy cows and exported butter and cheese to settlements in Alaska. John Sutter, the man known for gold discoveries on his land, used part of his fortune to purchase farm equipment from Fort Bragg and kept dairy cows among other livestock along the Sacramento River. In 1849, settlers from the United States arrived in large numbers from the east in search of gold, bringing animals and milk cows with them. These cows provided milk but also physical labor to pull wagons or plows when oxen tired. In the gold rush settlements, women who sold fresh milk and butter within the community may have brought home more income than their miner husbands . The first recorded commercial dairy was established on 10,000 acres by Clara Steele in the coastal region of Marin County, where coastal hills had long been grazed by tule elk and Mexican longhorns. The coastal fog maintained green pastures through the summer and the cows could live outside year-round thanks to the temperate winters. The Steele dairy shipped fresh milk and cheese by boat to the new city of San Francisco and their success prompted a ‘dairy fever.’ In the 1850s and 1860s, grassland in Marin County was divided into in ranches for dairy and beef production. Marin and Point Reyes became famous for their high-quality butter, humorously known as the “new gold rush,” the excess of which was shipped back east via the recently constructed continental railroad . As the population of California grew, the dairy industry expanded. The urban populations of San Francisco and Los Angeles increased the demand for milk and dairy products, further establishing dairying regions in Marin and Sonoma counties, and within Los Angeles County in the late 1800s . Coastal dairies spread down to Monterey and San Luis Obispo and up to Sonoma and Humboldt counties, and grassland in the Central Valley was also converted for dairying. In the north-eastern part of the Sacramento Valley, some dairies mimicked the Alpine style of dairying where cows spent summers in the mountains and winters in the valley . In 1896, University of California Professor E.J. Wickson documented the extent and climate types of dairy regions in California . At the time, he identified Humboldt County as the leading dairy county of California for having the greatest amount of product, greatest number of establishments, and for constructing the first modern creamery. By the end of the 19th century, milk production was widespread across the coast, valley, and Northeast mountains of the states. Over 50% of farms in California had milk cows, and all processing of milk, butter, and cheese was done on the farm . The home-based model of milk and dairy production would soon be replaced. As with almost every other significant commodity industry in California, research, extension, and education provided by the University of California played a significant role in the expansion of the dairy industry in California. Research at the University involved breeding and genetic experimentation to increase the productivity of cows and milk fat content of the milk and the development of dairy-farm building plans that were structurally appropriate for California’s warmer climate . Sanitary concerns of milk became the foremost issue for the industry, as illness from spoiled milk in the summer became routine, and in 1908, the University established the College of Agriculture in Davis, CA with its inaugural course on sanitary butter manufacturing for a larger scale processor .