The San Joaquin Valley in California is 300 miles long and 100 miles wide and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. A combination of rich soils, irrigation water from the mountains, and a warm, desert-like climate make it suitable for hundreds of different crops. This valley also supports the majority of California’s 1.8 million dairy cattle which are located on 2,000 farms and produce 22% of the US national milk supply – that’s more than the national production of such countries as Italy, Canada, the UK, Australia or the Netherlands. Two of those farms are RuAnn Dairy and Maddox Dairy, based at Riverdale and owned by the Maddox family.