Foreclosure fallout: Saving the farm

Good morning. Interesting item over at LA Now this morning: The housing downturn in the Chino Valley means no one wants to  buy farmland and turn it into subdivisions, which means dairy farming has a new lease on life out there.

From the Press-Enterprise:  "As a result, the exodus of dairies from the Chino Valley has come to a halt, at least for the time being. It is possible ...  that dairy farming will continue in the region for another decade."

Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: L.A. Times

Comments

[jaded]

as much as I want a new house, it sure is nice to see a little open land (with animals!) out here.

score one for the heifers.

[blackbox]

CRAP !!!!

[mike]

good i like the cows...i don't want our whole state to be generic housing

[RadioManTodd]

Great. More cow-farts to make my drive to Phoenix all that more visually and aromatically appealing.

[toby]

The good news is that we will be able to eat for a little longer now....

But don't worry, soon that 1% of the population will start to make money redeveloping the land that 100% of the population needs to eat.

Mmmmm Chinese eggs. It's what's for breakfast (10 years from now).

[TakeFive]

I don't think this will be enough to save the Westland/Hallmark Meat company in Chino though...

Look - you can see the cows awaiting their fate:

http://tinyurl.com/2ce4gn

Seems there's an analogy here about greed & tainted meat, greed & tainted loans. Who gets to be the cow.

http://www.westlandmeat.com/

[PREFAB SPROUT]

Well, thats good moos isn't it?

[Michael Snyder]

As a result of this posting PETA will be polling cows in the Chino ares to see if indeed they are contented. The stress caused by the uncertainty in the housing market has caused a drop in cow confidence and cud chewing has decreased as a result. Ear tag #232 has been deeply mooved by the whole experience where as ear tag #124 thinks the entire real estate bubble is bulls**t. The rest of the herd was being milked and unavailable for comment.

[BottomFisher]

Moooove over overpriced stucco boxes.....I'm a comin thru.........watch where you step...hehehe

[Condor]

Hmmm...houses or cow patch. Anyone prefering the latter hasn't spent too much time with the big mooers up close, and definitely didn't live around the Chino Hills of ten years ago. Can we say STINK?

[Michael Snyder]

Condor,
Have you been hungry today? Enjoyed a glass of milk or cream in your coffee? Can you say cheese? Trust me, I've been closer to cattle than you ever will & I enjoy a good steak more than most as a result. (revenge is sweet) But those critters don't grow up already wrapped in cellophane & they probably think we stink too.

[Nancy]

It takes a stinkin' to make that delicious RBST-free milk you're drinkin'!

;-)

[Mukesh]

Today we find ourselves in the world of anger, frustration and hate.We forgot the creation of human through a relationship of a man and a woman was a sublime message of consideration, acceptance and dependent of eah other. We can comfort ourselves through a dialogue of our own life experiences and undrestanding. I wuld be humbled by visiting my website WWW.CONSIDERATEWORLD.COM.I would be humbled to have a dialogue to provide o drop of comfort.

[Obie]

"Happy Cows Come From California?" Want to bet this slogan gets changed in a hurry?

[Al]

Are these cows that are injected with RBGH? Because the houses might be better...

[Ragnar]

Everyone knows that happy cows come from Wisconsin. There are many happy things in California, but cows are not one of them. :)

[Ericka]

these poor animals! people should stop drinking milk and eating eggs. think about what you're eating people!

[MeSue]

I"m glad. Eat local, buy local. Besides we need a rest from the bulldozers. So does the land.

BTW, it's not just dairy farming that's affected by the insatiable developers. The rich Coachella Valley farmland is also disappearing under stuccoed, generic and totally impractical subdivisions.

[SGV]

I take a vista of green pastures, a little stink, and some happy cows (notice it said "dairy" not slaughterhouses) over a sea of concrete sub-divisions containing cheaply built, cookie-cutter homes.

[anonymous]

Mukesh, I don't think those cows have internet access.

[dudeman1961]

if it stinks, you're too close.

If you're too close. blame the developer.

If you're a greedy devevoper, blame the even greedier farmer that sells his soul to you.

If you're the greedy farmer, may you roast in the netherworld.

[Rudy]

Growing up in Chino since the 70's, I miss the farms and dairies in the area. I would rather have open countryside than housing subdivision in which every other house is practically the same. Some call this progress, I call it a shame because of the wsted land. Mmmm fresh veggies from Chino not China.

[tarbubble]

YAY COWS! i grew up in Chino and mourn the rural, slow-paced small town of my youth. the smell? eh, you get used to it. unless you're going vegan, your cow-derived foods have to be farmed somewhere. we had chickens & goats too, so the cow smell was nothing.

i've been worried for a long time about the sacrifice of farmlands for more and more housing. and dudeman, i believe the city of Chino made the dairy farms very unwelcome one the developers came calling with all their sweet-smelling money. the one thing i don't miss about Chino is the local government, which was always run by a bunch of short-sighted money-grubbing political inbreds. and don't get me started on the school board!