Jake DeRaadt's Last MOO-RAH: Harmony Grove to Lemoore to Del Mar Fair Odyssey of Cows...
Since there’s no place like home, Jake DeRaadt came down from Lemoore with just enough cows to save the day for this year’s San Diego County Fair dairy exhibit. It's the last 'moorah' for the effervescent Harmony Grove native. Satisfied others will take up the challenge in future fairs, and wanting to devote more time to family matters, this is DeRaadt's final year leading the cornerstone dairy exhibit.
“This is going back home for me,” said DeRaadt, 49. “June is fair month. I’ve been involved with this for 35 years. They got plenty of people milking in the valley at valley fairs. You’re preaching to the choir ‘cause many up there know the ag industry. Hardly anybody is left down here in San Diego.”
The DeRaadt family were dairy mainstays for decades in Harmony Grove, between Escondido and San Marcos. Dairy production once was big business in North County with well over 100 dairies as late as the 1970s producing the equivalent of $80.6 million in Year 2000 dollars. County milk production fell to an all-time low of $12.4 million in 2003.
But, changing times ended the local dairy industry for all practical purposes. With urbanization and environmental challenges costing local dairies too much money and energy, DeRaadt joined the migration north to the Central Valley in 2000 where he could expand his herd and work in an environment more amenable to dairy production.
“I came down two summers ago and was kind of disappointed hearing that zero dairy cattle were going to be at the fair,” DeRaadt said. “There were just no cows here. I talked to (livestock coordinator) Kim Jacobson and said if we can get the dairy display going, I’ll get you the cows if you get someone to milk them. I just can’t be at the fair the full three weeks.”
Deal made. DeRaadt brought kids Arie, 15; Eileen, 16; and Katrina, 18, back home for the fair where they tell other kids on 4H Club barn tours about raising cows. Dairy Council of California educators hold several milking demonstrations a day – with DeRaadt’s imported cows.
All three DeRaadt children take unique roles at the fair. Katrina, 18, creates visual displays; Eileen, 16, loves working with the school children; and his youngest, Arie, at 15, seems to share especially in the joy of showing the cows. He's even conducted a few milking demonstrations for smaller crowds. "It's a family tradition," said Arie. "Cinnamon rolls in the morning, our cousins coming out to watch on Fridays and Saturdays ---- it's just a lot of fun. "And you can hear Grandma in the back of the stands cheering us on, too," he added with a smile.
It’s all more than good for DeRaadt who combined a healthy dose of nostalgia for his old Escondido home with the practical business of acquainting urban youth with their farming roots. As if to punctuate this point, DeRaadt flew the family dairy’s old sign – Eden Vale 2531 Country Club Rd., Escondido – above his Lemoore, Kings County, cows at the dairy barn.
“The reasons we’re here are multi-pronged,” DeRaadt said. “It’s a lot of fun and a great experience for the kids. We’re also educating the public that for the most part is fairly urban or far removed from the farm.”
DeRaadt’s dairy cows have saved the day for this important, and historical, element of the county fair, said Efrain Valenzuela, Southern California education manager for the Dairy Council of California who has been conducting the daily milking demonstrations.
”Jake DeRaadt has been very helpful as far as bringing the animals to use,” Valenzuela said. “It’s harder and harder finding animals to bring to the public. He’s been there for us when cows have gotten sick. We called him and he said sure, he’d bring another one up. It’s tough finding cows to use.”
The industry has all but disappeared as land became more valuable and stringent environmental rules regarding cow manure and clean water took effect. Most dairies were forced to close long ago or to relocate to Central California. In 1948 and 1949, San Diego County Farm Bureau Executive Director Eric Larson said, milk was the main agricultural product here. That was supplemented later by beef, then avocados, and since the mid-70s, nurseries. “It’s just the reality of what happened,” Larson said. “I think it’s great we still have a few dairies here, but I don’t see anyone opening a new one. “You have to be fairly large in the dairy industry, and to get larger they had to move out of the county.” Only four dairy farms remain and one milk processing plant. They owners of the farms for the most part keep a low profile since the milk they produce is processed out of the county and not marketed locally.
The milking demonstrations have proven quite popular with dozens of students and even adults at each show.
“You get that wow factor,” Valenzuela said. “There’s nothing like seeing that little squirt come out and it lights up their faces. Ag is slowly moving out little by little, so we’re happy to bring the farm to them.”
Part of that farm at the fair is the barn tour, this day conducted for a second year by Nicolina Prestininz, a Fallbrook 4-H member. She tells a group of elementary school students that only six dairies remain in San Diego County. Arie and Eileen DeRaadt show off their cows, explaining how they care for the animals.
“How many of you think chocolate milk comes from a brown cow?” Prestininz asks. Several students raise their hands. Jake DeRaadt laughs. That’s what he’s talking about.
