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Industry
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Got Milk? – A Growing Industry in New Mexico
By Jane Wiggins, Freelance Writer
Your childhood memories might include a glass,
quart-jar of milk left on the breakfast table or maybe it was delivered to the
back door by the milk man before breakfast. This is a pleasant, childhood memory for many people in the Pecos Valley.
As early as communities were established, soon to follow were the small, often
family-owned, hand milked dairies offering “fresh milk.”
Those days are contrasted by the black and white
checkerboard appearances of the highly technical, automated dairies which are
springing up in southeastern New Mexico. New Mexico State University estimated
dairy support to the economy of the state at $1.5 billion in 2000.
The dairy industry in New Mexico continues to grow at
a rapid rate, according to Sharon Lombardi, executive director of Dairy
Producers of New Mexico. In 1987 there were about 58,000 dairy cows in the
state. That amount increased to about 290,000 in 2002. The 170 dairies in New
Mexico have an average herd size of 1,700 cows, ranking New Mexico first in the
nation for herd size and seventh as far as milk production. Chaves County is the
top milk producing county in the state and 10th in the nation. NMSU
figures state that in 2001 milk cows produced 1,697,276,778 pounds of milk at a
value of $222,343,258. Production costs were $186,700,446 with an economic
impact (to the state) of $524,628,252.
Over 3,000 workers are employed by dairies, according
to the New Mexico Department of Labor, with an estimated payroll of $64.8
million dollars. Although New Mexico has always had dairies, several factors
have made the dairy industry boom here, according to Lombardi. Methods of milk
transportation by bulk tankers have shortened distances to major population
centers. Farm refrigeration tanks allow the milk to be stored for pickup,
eliminating daily deliveries. (Lombardi said the milk is not touched by hand
until it gets to your home.)
Agriculture production in Chaves County, good food
resources, excellent grains, alfalfa, corn, milo, cotton and other feedstuffs
are plentiful and competitively priced. Large-scale, dry lot operations have
found New Mexico is an ideal state for dairy farming. Lombardi said dairymen who
relocated from Arizona and California with excellent management skills find the
climate is ideal for the health of dairy cows. “A happy cow gives more milk,”
she explained. Low Construction
cost, low cost farm land and abundance of high quality feed are also important,
she said.
Economic
Impact
Fifty percent
of milk production cost is related to feed, she explained. Most of the feed is
purchased from local farmers, creating a major new market for locally grown feed
crops. About 10 percent of the total cost of milk production goes to labor, and
an average dairy employs one laborer for every 75-100 milking cows. The industry
also relies on many local service industries including plumbers, electricians,
milking equipment suppliers, veterinarians and others to fulfill the
need.
Milk production led to the
location of a cheese plant -- Leprino Foods – in Chaves County. It is currently
the largest mozzarella plant in the world. New Mexico cheese production moved to
8th in the nation. Leprino uses about 4.5 million pounds of local
milk per day. One hundred pounds of
milk makes about 13 lbs of cheese. The remaining whey is used to produce baby
formula, powdered cream, sweeteners, pharmaceutical products, ice cream and
yogurt.
The broad product range of milk
production includes:
·
Cheese: Cheddar, Egmont, Granular, Mozzarella
and soft cheeses
·
Cream Products: Anhydrous milk fat
·
Bulk butter
·
Powder: Buttermilk, Ice Cream,
Milk protein concentrate, Skim milk, Whole milk – instant and fortified
powders
·
Protein Products: Alamin, Casein (Whey Protein
Concentrate), Cheese WPC
·
Lactic Casein, Lactose, Stock
Foods
“New Mexico is the Dairy state
of the decade for the 1990s,” said Michael Looper, NMSU Extension Dairy
Specialist. “The state has five major cheese plants.” The top five dairy
counties are Chaves, Roosevelt, Curry, Dona Ana and Lea. These rated in a
different place for each county within the top 60th percentile in the
U.S., Looper said.
Chaves County Agriculture Agent, James Duffy was
quick to explain the other supportive industries benefited by the dairies.
"Other
service industries supported are welders, the trucking, hauling, livestock and
refrigeration industries as well as a sales ring,” he said. “Nutritionists,
machine parts, semen sales, vets, drug supplies are helped, and even towels,
soap, and detergent supplies are needed because of the industry. There is no
doubt a lot of money is put into the economy by the dairies.” He added that
dairymen are very supportive of 4-H, FFA and all kinds of youth agriculture
activities. Dairies find a good quality, high protein hay here, but there is just not
enough of it, Duffy said. A milk cow eats an acre of hay a year, he
added.
Holstein
vs. Jersey
Recent evaluation method changes by the National Agricultural Statistics
Service in determining milk component values have caused some dairymen to
experiment by adding Jersey cows to their herd. Variations in milk composition can affect the
value of milk for manufacture of cheese and other dairy products.
The more commonly seen Holstein
cows are mostly black and white, (some red and white) larger framed cows that
roughly give twice as much milk as a Jersey, but with a lower nutritional
content. The industry generally uses the volume-heavy Holstein to pump up their
milk production.
In contrast, Jersey cows are on
the low end of production, but their milk is rich in protein, calcium and other
nutrients. Jerseys are brown or brown and white, smaller and are economic
producers for their size.
Other milk cows include the
Ayrshire breed, which originated in Scotland. It is a medium-sized breed and red
and white in color. Ayrshire produce a high quantity and quality milk. The
Milking Shorthorn originated in England. It is a medium-sized animal, of red,
red and white or roan in color. She is a versatile breed, producing a high
volume of milk with high butterfat and protein levels.
History
of Early Breeds
The first importation of the Holstein-Friesian breed to North America was
from Holland in about 1881. The American Herdbook reports the sale of a bull and
cow in Winnipeg, Canada. The vast majority of the breed are traced back to two
animals. Mount Victoria Farms, in
Quebec calls the resulting progeny strains from these strains the Rag Apple
Line. An estimated 95 percent of
dairy cattle are purebred Holsteins or display Holstein
characteristics.
Milk breed cattle from the Island of Jersey and Guernsey were recognized
as excellent milkers in New England as early as 1815. The resulting stock were
called Alderneys and possessed rich creaming qualities in their milk.
According to Philadelphia Promotion of Agriculture, an early notation
tells of a cow, when fed in “the usual way” with potatoes yielded eight pounds
of butter on less food than ordinary stock. Fed on an excellent pasture of
orchard grass and white clover another produced 14 quarts of milk per day,
yielding more than 8 lbs. of butter with an excellent rich yellow color that it
appeared an artificial color had been added.
Flavor of
the Future?
An all-Jersey Dairy in San Antonio recently
introduced two new milk flavors -- Mooberry Blueberry and Dulce de
Leche.
Joseph C. Lea: From Confederate Guerrilla to New Mexico Patriarch, the
book by Elvis E. Fleming, is available at the Historical Society for Southeast
New Mexico, 200 N. Lea Avenue, and also at Cobean's Stationery, 320 N.
Richardson Avenue, Roswell. The book sells for $25, with over 260 pages plus 66
illustrations. It was published by Yucca Tree Press in Las Cruces, in
cooperation with, and to benefit, the HSSNM.
The author, Fleming, is city historian, member of and archivist for
Historical Society for New Mexico, as well as Eastern New Mexico
University-Roswell professor of history, emeritus.
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