Estimated Number of Wisconsin Dairies in Each Herd Size Class in 1998, By Herd Size in 1993

		Size of Dairy Herd in 1998
	Herd Size in 1993	1 to 24 cows	25 to 49 cows	50 to 74 cows	75 to 99 cows	100 to 199 cows	200 to 499 cows	500 or more cows	1993 Total
Size of Dairy Herd in 1993	Entered since 1993	112	558	446	56	112	0	28	1,312
	1 to 24	1,283	307	28	0	0	0	0	1,618
	25 to 49	446	5,943	1,256	279	28	28	0	7,980
	50 to 74	56	363	4,994	921	279	56	0	6,669
	75 to 99	0	28	195	1,032	530	28	0	1,813
	100 to 199	0	0	28	140	1,367	335	56	1,926
	200 to 499	0	0	0	0	56	112	84	252
	500 or more	0	0	0	0	0	0	56	56

	1998 Total	1,897	7,199	6,947	2,428	2,372	559	224	21,626

Description: The transition matrix presented above shows how many farms moved between certain size classes over the five-year period from 1993 - 1998. The matrix reveals that more than two-thirds of all dairy farms remained in the same size category in 1998 as in 1993 (indicated by the shaded diagonal). For those farms that did increase cow numbers, expansion was typically by just one size category. The resulting picture suggests that most very large dairy farms got to their current size through a continued series of incremental expansions.

Source: Based on estimates from the 1999 Wisconsin Dairy Farm Poll (PATS)