EASTVALE: Got Milk? How Many Dairies Are Left In Eastvale?
By Kimberley Sander
Eastvale – Back in the late 1990s, the area currently known as Eastvale had a population of over 90,000; however, the majority of the citizens weren’t people, they were cows…lots and lots of cows living on approximately 80 dairies in this beautiful valley.
In early 2000, tracts of homes started springing up in the Eastvale area, along with shops, restaurants and schools. The growth led to the exploration of cityhood for Eastvale in 2007, and on October 1, 2010, official incorporation was completed. But with all the growth, what has happened to all those dairies?
Just as the expanding population of Los Angeles forced dairies out of Cerritos toward northwestern Riverside County, the ever-growing Eastvale, with a population of approximately 54,000 residents, is forcing dairies to leave for central California, Oregon, Colorado and beyond. People keep trying to escape urban congestion, and the high prices that go along with space that is at a premium.
Mayor Ike Bootsma, whose father was one of the first Dairymen to settle from Holland into the Chino Valley area, can remember what it was like. All of the children in his family worked the Dairy until they left home. In 1975, Boostma and his brother started the Bootsma Calf Ranch, where he and his wife still reside, and at one point had about 8,500 head of cattle.
“Back in the day, everybody was our neighbor. There were more cows than people, but everyone pitched in and helped one another”, Bootsma said recently.
“The City of Eastvale has turned into the same situation, people helping one another. But things change. I miss the dairies, but cows and people don’t mix that well”, he added.
At this point, there are only two dairies still operational in the City of Eastvale; the Dyt Dairy, located on Archibald at Limonite, and Leal Ranch, in the northeast corner of the city. Although this may be the end of an era, there is something comforting about the sight of black and white Holsteins grazing nearby. In agreement with Mayor Bootsma, we will miss the dairies, too.
When the dairies moved this direction in the late 1990s, they may have thought they would stay in this valley until the cows come home, but once again, they are moving on. As Woody Guthrie penned in his famous song, “Whoopee-ti-yi-yo, get along little doggies. You know that Wyoming will be your new home”. Indeed.
