Dairy entry/exit trends

Wisconsin has seen a decline in the number of dairy farms averaging 4 to 5 percent per year for over a decade. The declining number of dairy farms has led to changes in the nature of Wisconsin's agriculturally-dependent communities. Milk production has typically risen or remained stable, due to increased productivity per cow and increases in herd size. Although most people tend to assume that the rate of decline in farm numbers is primarily the result of farm exits, there is growing evidence that the relatively rapid rates of net decline in farm numbers in the 1980s and 1990s are accounted for primarily by slow or declining rates of entry into farming, rather than by an increased rate of exit.

• Publications
• Data Tables and Graphics
• Links

Dairy entry/exit trends - publications:

Click title for abstract, or click the PDF icon or HTML link to read entire article (where available.)

Nurturing the Next Generation of Wisconsin's Dairy Farms.
PATS Special Report, October 2001.

Dynamics of Entry and Exit on Wisconsin Dairy Farms in the 1990s.
Wisconsin Family Farm Facts No. 14, June, 2001.

Entry Into Wisconsin Dairying: Patterns, Processes, and Policy Implications.
PATS Research Report No. 4. May, 1999.

Wisconsin's Need for a Comprehensive Farm Entry-Exit Service.
Wisconsin Family Farm Facts No. 4. March, 1995.

Farm Numbers in Wisconsin: Entry, Exit, and Impacts.
Wisconsin Family Farm Facts No. 1. November, 1994.

Getting in While the Going's Tough: Entry into Wisconsin Agriculture.
ATFFI Technical Report No. 1. October 1994.

Summary of the ATFFI Entry-Exit Focus Group Meetings: Strategies for Beginning and Retiring Farmers.
Research Paper No. 8. September, 1994.

Entry-Exit Behavior of Wisconsin Dairy Farmers.
ATFFI Research Paper No. 6. August, 1994.

Wisconsin Dairy Farmers' Evaluation of Current Stresses: Implications for Entry and Exit Behavior.
ATFFI Research Paper No. 7. August, 1994.

Summary of the ATFFI Entry-Exit Focus Group Meetings: A Report to the Entry-Exit Coalition.
ATFFI Research Paper No. 5. July, 1994.

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Dairy entry/exit trends - data tables and graphics:

• Estimated Number of Wisconsin Dairy Farm Entrants and Exiters, and Net Change in Dairy Farm Numbers per Year, 1978-1997
• Characteristics of entrants to dairy farming in Wisconsin, 1993-1996, Based on 1996 Wisconsin Survey of New Dairy Farm Entrants.

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Dairy entry/exit trends - links:

The Land Stewardship Project
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org
The Land Stewardship Project sponsors many programs to support an environmentally-sound agriculture. Beginning farmers can find information at this site on direct marketing links with consumers and the "Farm Beginnings" program.

The New England Small Farm Institute
http://www.smallfarm.org
The New England Small Farm Institute sponsors innovative programs for farm transfer and to assist beginning farmers.
Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers

Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers
http://www.cias.wisc.edu/dairysch.html
The Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers is geared to help young people launch their own successful grass-based dairy careers. The program combines on-farm experience with classroom learning.

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