California has a large and diverse livestock industry: it is the number one dairy state in the nation and is also a leading producer of beef cattle, broiler chickens, eggs, turkey, sheep, and goats. Climate adaptation is a major concern for livestock producers: intensive livestock operations may see increased cooling costs and animal health concerns, while drought and high temperatures can devastate forage production on natural rangelands.
In the coming months, we will update this website with more resources on climate adaptation for ranching and other livestock production. Our highest priority will be helping ranchers survive California’s current drought, already the worst in living memory and likely to continue beyond 2014.