When I signed up to come out to California on a preceptorship, I did it for two reasons. 1) I wanted to see what really made California the #1 dairy state in the country (because it certainly wasn’t the Happy Cow ads!) and 2) I wanted to wear my arms off from palpating. I think I got both my wishes.
I’m not sure exactly what I thought the California dairy industry was like. Like I said, I already knew that it wasn’t the Happy Cow ads because, well, its not like that in many places. Even the beautiful Mid-West. I did have some general ideas involving Hispanic workers, large numbers of cows and dry lots but for the most part wasn’t really sure what I actually thought.
So this is what I learned.
1) The San Joaquin Valley is a very large and beautiful place. To the east, snow capped mountains can be seen when its not cloudy, hazy, foggy or smoggy. Sometimes, that’s rare. The Valley relies heavily on irrigation but otherwise is a fertile area. Or at least it seems. In addition to cows, there were fields of alfalfa and wheat. There were rows upon rows of trees-walnuts, pistacattios, almonds, oranges, plums and other assorted fruit and nuts. There were vineyards and cotton gins. Its pretty much fantastic. Though, you know, I don’t think I saw any rivers, creeks, lakes or other natural bodies of water. Hmmm.
2) I love that there are palm trees all over the place. And that everyone has some sort of citrus tree in their yard.
3) Cows eat some pretty weird stuff out here. Because of their rumens, cows can utilize a lot of waste products. In New York, I saw heifers eating onions. In the Mid-West, we stick to a lot more grain by-products including distillers grain from ethanol production. While some of the products carry over, there is some regional variances. I found that many cows in the Valley ate almond hulls and citrus pulp. Enough citrus pulp and the manure even takes on a citrusy smell! I found it enjoyable to watch cows eat whole oranges and lemons. I am told that they like oranges but not lemons and when they are eating them, they will bring their heads up as they chew allowing the juice to run down their throats. If they happen to have a lemon, they will start tossing their heads around! I had a nice discussion on one of the farms about all the things cows eat including chocolate and bakery products.
4) Most of the farms are owned by Portuguese and Dutch families.
5) I found that speaking Spanish wasn’t 100% necessary. Most of the people that we worked directly with spoke English. Spanish would have been helpful because there were lots of times, that if I knew how to ask questions or give complements, I probably would have. ‘My cat is orange and white.’ Doesn’t often apply here.
6) Speaking of orange and white cats, there was a strange lack of them on the farms. I guess I didn’t really notice them on the farms in New York either but I see more on one trip to Foremost than I did the entire time out here. I did manage to get to pet one cat that looked like he was going through the awkward teenage years. He was lanky with long legs, a long tail and a huge nose!
7) In the winter, it rains a lot. This means that most of the dry lot dairies become mud. And if not properly maintained, they become deep mud. The cows are often up to their knees it it. I wonder how much cows hate or like being muddy? While they probably wish that they had a nice dry place to lay down, does it bother them to have so much mud hanging from their coats? Because of this, before the cows enter the parlor, there are a series of sprinklers that the cows stand over to get clean.
8) I was surprised by the condition of some of the parlors. Some were bright and new. They were the super large parallel parlors like we saw during SDI. Others were considerably smaller. I would imagine that it would make milking several thousand cows more difficult but that just means that everyone works longer and harder.
9) I was surprised but happy by the use of free stalls. For the most part, these cows were cleaner and had to be more comfortable. A variety of bedding was used-recycled manure (which unlike New York was stockpiled (essentially composted) for drying and not put through a dryer. I guess this is because of the temperature difference), waterbeds and sand. I was surprised that more sand wasn’t used.
10) Manure management didn’t seem to be at the forefront of technology. Most places used a lagoon system and manure was pushed up and allowed to dry. After drying, it was used for bedding. No methane digesters here!
11) Most of the farms that I went to used bulls as at least part of their reproductive program. I think there were a few that used bulls exclusively. Since I thought dairy bulls were mythical up until about five years ago, I couldn’t help but be shocked. Add in the fact that bulls are dangerous and that the farms aren’t very picky about them. I’m still scared of them and rightfully so. People across the country get killed every year by dairy bulls.
12) The role of the vet is still mainly palpation but we did get to do some roll and toggle DA procedures which were fun. They don’t teach that sort of thing in school! We also had to vaccinate heifer calves for Brucella since vets are required by law to do that.
13) I thought I would have been hit on more by the Hispanic workers but to my knowledge I was not. This is an occasion when speaking Spanish would have come in handy so I would have been able to tell if they were.
An additional thing that I saw including someone rounding up the cows on horseback. Very cool indeed. I was able to see a lot of different pathology both through palpation (cows with one horn to their uterus, mummies and lots of adhesions) and just by looking at the large number of cows around. There were cows with various tumors or masses, a cow with no tail and a cow with two tails. Weird stuff is some of my favorite things! When I saw these weird things, I considered differentials, diagnostic plans and treatment options to myself. I saw a cow with a giant mass on her brisket and knew what I wanted to do if I was allowed-palpate for a soft spot, stick a needle in it. If it drained pus, lance the sucker. If it didn’t do a FNA and see what sort of tumor it was. Possibly ultrasound it too if available. Maybe do an en bloc resection though it was large enough that it may have been difficult to close. Of course, some of these options really only apply to vet school or to small animals, but still they are good for me to think of!
Since I was in California for my birthday and Las Vegas is only a short five hours through the desert away. I decided to go over my birthday weekend and visit my older brother Eddie. I rented a car which turned into a gas guzzling truck and drove off across the desert. Of course, it rained the entire way out there and by the time I was comfortable driving this truck, I developed some serious road rage. ITS JUST RAIN PEOPLE! DRIVE A LITTLE FASTER. Anyway, I wasn’t expecting to do much and do nothing I did. After arriving, cake was made for me and Eddie and Katy took me to various Las Vegas places for pictures. We drove down the strip and I went to a large souvenir store for tacky presents. After that, we had some Chinese and birthday cake. I went to bed early and the next morning we went to brunch. Like at all buffets, I ate too much and wasn’t able to enjoy dessert. By the time I reached the car though, there was enough room for those pieces of pie. Sunday, we finished the day by hanging out and then I drove back to California.
While here, the World Ag Expo took place. We went on Tuesday afternoon, the day that it rained and was horribly wet and cold. I was allowed to wear a large red poncho. Yea! I’ve often thought before that having not grown up on a farm and thus not having much if any exposure to tractors, farm equipment and pretty much anything mechanical, put me at a disadvantage compared to my more mechanically, farm raised male classmates. This expo just showed that even more. I’m not interested in tractors. I’m a girl. I should be okay with that. Additionally, much like Products Day and much like the exhibition hall at AABP, I am really bad about 1) taking things from businesses that want me to use their product and 2) thinking of things to say and ask about products that I have never heard of. Some of these things will come more and more I am out in an industry using products. But as for taking things, I feel guilty taking that deck of playing cards if I haven’t at least made an attempt at small talk. Maybe I’m just not greedy.
Overall, I enjoyed my time in California. Maybe I should come back some time. Maybe I should stay. I realized that I’m not super partial to any one area of the country. And the weather is for the most part nice here! AND I may have gotten some sun while here! Not much though…
[EDIT-Orginially published to Blogger on February 15, 2011.]
[EDIT-Orginially published to Blogger on February 15, 2011.]
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