For immediate release

Contact: Cassie King, (510) 507-8075, cassie@directactioneverywhere.com

Valadao Dairy Linked to Criminal Animal Cruelty

Congressman Valadao's dairy sends newborn calves to calf ranch exposed dragging, shooting sick calves

Animal Cruelty Findings at Grimmius Cattle Company

Photos & Videos of Valadao Dairy
(Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)

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October 1, 2026, Hanford, CA - Factory farm investigators with the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) just confirmed that Valadao Dairy, owned by Congressman David Valadao's family, sends newborn dairy calves to Grimmius Cattle Company, California's largest calf-raising operation where DxE investigators have recorded sick baby cows being dragged from a trailer and shot in the head. Grimmius confines hundreds of thousands of calves each year inside crates so small they can barely turn around, a violation of California Penal Code 597t, which makes it a crime to deny confined animals adequate exercise area.

DxE investigators also obtained drone footage at Valadao Dairy showing dead animals in multiple parts of the facility on numerous occasions last month, including a pile of skeletal remains of calves who had decomposed. Valadao Dairy confines over 5,000 cows with no access to pasture.

Congressman Valadao, who earlier this year said he still lives on the property of the dairy, is co-chair of the Congressional Dairy Caucus and calls himself "the sole dairyman in Congress." He has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the dairy industry, including $10,000 from Land O'Lakes, the biggest brand of butter in the nation. Valadao Dairy supplies milk to Land O'Lakes, which also supplies to Nestle.  

"It's no wonder that animal cruelty isn't being addressed by authorities when the industry is directly linked to powerful politicians who profit from the abuse," said DxE factory farm investigator Lewis Bernier, who obtained drone footage last week of calves from Valadao Dairy being transported to and roughly unloaded at Grimmius's Hanford ranch.

Calf-raising operations like Grimmius are little-known facilities that raise newborn calves from the dairy industry, often thousands or tens of thousands of calves at once from multiple dairies, which cuts costs compared to dairies raising their own calves on site. Some calves are used as replacement dairy cows, while others are sent to feedlots and eventually slaughtered for beef. DxE investigators documented the transport of newborn calves from Valadao Dairy to Grimmius in Hanford, where they were dropped into individual crates, and on another occasion, investigators documented a Grimmius trailer bringing older heifers back to Valadao Dairy.

DxE published its findings at Valadao Dairy today at FactoryFarmWatch.org, a map and database of California’s 1300+ large, industrial animal farms.

Earlier this year, DxE published animal cruelty footage at Grimmius, including workers pushing calves off a moving trailer, roughly maneuvering calves by their sensitive ears and tails, and throwing sick calves to the ground and shooting them in the head. A DxE attorney had reported this cruelty to the local authorities, but Kings County District Attorney Sarah Hacker dismissed the complaint saying "the facility adheres to established industry standards."

Industry expert Dr. Temple Grandin, however, reviewed DxE's footage at Grimmius and stated, "Pushing calves out of moving trailers is abuse. Throwing calves is abuse." She added, "If this abuse had occurred in a slaughter plant, the USDA would shut them down for Humane Slaughter violations. It would be labeled egregious acts of abuse."

In addition to the calf-raising operation in Hanford, Grimmius operates another massive calf-raising operation in Tulare County and a heifer ranch in Kettleman City which is currently expanding, despite the known legal issues and abuse at the company. The expansion is occurring without proper environmental impact reports or notification to nearby residents.  

"It is disturbing to know that our leadership thinks so little of our rural, unincorporated areas and looks upon us as a dumping ground for everything from toxic waste, to human waste in the compost that we get from Los Angeles, to the air and water pollution from animals in factory farms. The people of Kettleman City are tired of being subjected to pollution projects that bring us no benefit by people who are mandated to protect our health and quality of life," said Miguel Alatorre, Executive Director and Co-founder of Unidos Network, a non-profit organization based in Kettleman City.

The California dairy industry is incredibly powerful, as the state’s largest agricultural sector, contributing over $23 billion to the state GDP annually. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has multiple boards dedicated to boosting dairy consumption and shaping public perception of dairy. They have worked with the industry to run multi-million-dollar marketing programs, such as California’s iconic ‘Got Milk?’ campaign and “Happy Cows Come from California.” This state-backed marketing misleads consumers with bucolic imagery of “family farms,” while DxE investigations are uncovering the reality of widespread cruelty behind California milk.

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) investigates farms, slaughterhouses, and other facilities to document abuses and rescue sick and injured animals. DxE’s investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, WIRED, and Vox. Visit DxE on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky, and at directactioneverywhere.com.

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