Steve Nash

Steve Nash, a third-generation dairy farmer from Selma, has been involved in the dairy industry his entire life. His grandfather started in the dairy business in Corcoran in 1929 and then built a walk-in dairy barn in Selma in 1932, where his family business has been located ever since. Nash finds the timing interesting because the dairy is what helped the family get through the Great Depression.

After he graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1980, he moved back to Selma to continue running the dairy with his father. In addition to the dairy, they also grew a large acreage of cotton at the time.

When Nash graduated, they were milking only 180 cows, but he had a vision to expand production. Nash and his father slowly strayed away from farming cotton, but quickly expanded dairy production, which was more profitable for them. The last year they grew cotton was in 1982.

Today, Nash milks around 1,550 cows. This includes 1,350 Holsteins and 200 purebred Jerseys. They also farm around 655 acres of alfalfa, corn and wheat. He credits switching the marketing of his milk over to DCCA (now Land O’Lakes) in 1980 for helping him to expand his operation. Today, his milk is sold to the cooperative of California Dairies, Inc., which was formerly known as Danish Creamery, located in downtown Fresno.

Nash has worked with the same attitude since the beginning: “Farming is timing, cattle is consistency.”

Nash has a passion for the dairy industry, and through conversation, you can tell that he enjoys talking about his dairy cows. “When you build a high quality herd, it really feels good to see what you have accomplished,” he said. “I enjoy working with and breeding good quality cattle.”

He credits the ability to build a large, high-quality herd to artificial insemination (AI) and technology. “Computers have made a huge difference in how the farm operates. It is the only way we can manage the herd.”

In addition to working hard on the dairy, Nash works very hard for the industry. He has served 12 years on the FCFB Board of Directors, and currently serves as the second vice president. In the past, he served as the Dairy Commodity Chairman for both FCFB and CFBF. He credits FCFB Past President Irwin Efird for getting him interested in becoming involved with FCFB leadership.

Working with the Farm Bureau, I’ve really learned how to communicate with the press,” Nash said. “With Fresno being the media capitol of the region, I have been impressed with the accuracy of the local media. I credit the Farm Bureau for helping local media to be as accurate on agricultural issues as they have been.”

Nash has made many friends at all levels of involvement with the Farm Bureau. “I have enjoyed working with high quality people at the county, state and American Farm Bureaus. I have been impressed by the staff people at all levels of Farm Bureau.”

Nash demonstrated his leadership during the heat wave last summer that affected hundreds of dairies throughout the valley. He represented the industry by meeting with urban legislators, including the governor, and working with local media to make sure people were educated on the affects that the heat wave had on production agriculture.

He serves as the vice chairman to the California Milk Advisory Board, and has enjoyed his time on the board, getting to know dairy farmers up and down the state. This same board launched the successful “Happy Cows” marketing campaign.

In addition, Nash is a committee member for the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Dairy Advisory Committee. This committee gets together once a year to evaluate policies, rules and regulations and then makes recommendations to the California Secretary of Agriculture.

Nash, a spokesperson for the dairy industry, has many concerns about issues facing milk production. “To maintain good, healthy milk prices for dairy farmers has always been a challenge,” Nash said. In addition to healthy milk prices, he said reducing fees incurred on dairy farmers is necessary.

Nash’s biggest cost right now is corn. “An increase in ethanol production has raised prices of corn. As much as 40 percent of my costs are now going to corn. The price of corn can have a direct effect on the bottom line.” Milk producing cows consume 10 pounds of corn each day.

Nash’s biggest concern is the long-term challenge of public perception, and cited the use of POSILAC bST, or bovine somatotropin, as an example. The perception is that the use of POSILAC bST can be harmful to consumers. However, supplementing dairy cows with POSILAC bST safely enhances milk production and serves as an important tool to help dairy producers improve the efficiency of their operations. Cows supplemented with POSILAC bST produce an average of 10 pounds more milk per day.

Nash feels that this issue needs to be addressed immediately. “Milk producers are marketing non-bST milk for financial gains. As an industry, we need to work together to protect ourselves at the production level. In this case, the use of bST is a form of biotechnology. We need to protect biotechnology because it is going to be the future for us when compared to the rest of the world.”

When he is not on the dairy working or representing the industry, Nash enjoys watching sports.
Nash is a big fan of NASCAR, and loves to watch his favorite driver, Jimmie Johnson. He is fascinated by the different strategies of the sport and how it continues to grow in popularity.

During the summer, he also attends San Francisco Giants’ games with friends and family. In the fall, when he is not called in on Sundays to breed cows, he gets together with his friends and nearby farmers that are in his fantasy football league to watch football.

When Nash gets a chance, he loves to travel with his family. He has been married to Terry for 16 years, and has two children: his son Cody, 14, and Stephanie, 12. It is rare for Nash to miss his son or daughter’s swim meets, who swim competitively year round. In fact, he recently served as the president of the Selma Aqua Bears Youth Swim Team.

Meet Your Board Members Profile: Ag Today, Dec 06

By: John Migliazzo