As California's population increased, more dairy herds and creameries were established closer to the growing cities, and Humboldt dairy products became less critical. After World War II, better refrigeration and interstate highways allowed dairies to move farther from population centers, and the San Joaquin Valley became the dominant California dairy region. While they produce just 1 percent of the state's milk, Humboldt dairies are very important to the local economy. Dairies provide jobs for about 400 people and enough raw milk to keep four milk processors going. The largest processor, Humboldt Creamery Association, pays prevailing industrial wages and provides full benefits to its more than 100 employees.
Dairies rely on many goods and services in the community.
They create steady business for feed stores, hay shippers and other trades, not to mention viable, long-term careers in agriculture for the families who own them. But dairies are etched more deeply into Humboldt County's cultural and aesthetic landscape than economic data can convey. The ranches that spread out across the lower Eel River Valley and the Arcata Bottom create images of stirring beauty, with meandering sloughs and cows foraging in fields of grass. These ranches also provide habitat for ducks, geese, egrets and migrating shorebirds and the inspiration for a thousand paintings by artists. In big cities, dairy products are anonymous commodities with no visible ties to the farms that produce them.