04. Dairying

Dairying became a successful industry because mild winters and an abundance of alfalfa for feed allowed farmers to have large, well-fed herds which produced high yields of milk.  The demand for dairy products in Arizona was high, making dairy profitable and leading to massive expansion of the industry in the 1910s.  In 1910, there were roughly 12,000 dairy cows in all of Maricopa County, and six years later there were 48,000 on lands watered by the Salt River Project alone.  Newspaper advertisements pushing for the growth of the dairy industry in Chandler claimed that ten cows could bring a profit of $100 every month.  Guy Whitten poses with one of his dairy calves.  Dairy cows are seen feeding on alfalfa hay.