David Valadao

Citing business debts totaling more than $13 million, former Rep. David Valadao and his wife have filed for bankruptcy protection for their dairy and cattle businesses.

The couple filed last week for Chapter 7 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California in Fresno for their related businesses, Triple V Dairy, Triple V Cattle and Valadao Dairy in the Hanford and Tulare areas.

In the filing, they cite the businesses having $208,500 in assets compared to $13.64 million in liabilities, with the number of debtors exceeding 100.

A list of who is owed money includes other cattle operations, auto parts stores, a feed company, agricultural businesses, an auto dealership and milk processor Land O’Lakes.

The Valadaos listed four legal actions pending against their dairy and cattle businesses, including one involving Rabobank and another with Land O’Lakes as plaintiffs, both of which are among the businesses listed as being owed money.

Nationally, the dairy industry is entering its fourth straight year of dairies mostly being paid less for their milk than what it costs them to produce.

“Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a legal process that can help individuals get relief from debts by discharging — or clearing — some or all of what’s owed,” though the people filing may have to lose some or all of their physical assets in the process, according to CreditKarma.com.

The bankruptcy filing is the latest professional hit for Valadao as his time as a congressman came to an end earlier this year following his re-election loss to Democrat T.J. Cox in a race so close that Republican Valadao initially declared victory, but about a month later rescinded because the vote count shifted in favor of Cox, who was declared the winner.