California’s dairy industry is literally being pushed out of the state – a victim of rising costs, water shortages, and new regulations of every kind. Maybe they will become Texas Longhorns!
One regulation requires that methane emissions from farms be cut by at least 40% by 2030 to fight climate change. Dairy farms – whose cow “burps” are responsible for 30 percent of the state’s methane “emissions” – are in the crosshairs.
Regulations further restricting how dairies process cow manure may kick in only 18 months from now, and nonprofit dairy analyst Michael Boccadoro fears more of the state’s remaining 1.7 million cows will be moved out of state as a result: “California doesn’t want to be accused of adopting policies that result in the export and increase of methane emissions.”
Hence the cows will continue to leave their California home – but that just means moo-ving the problem to another state at a time when demand for milk products continues to rise.
