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Wisconsin Agriculture in the 1990s: Perspectives from the 1997 Census of Agriculture
By Frederick H. Buttel
This paper describes some of the major trends revealed in comparisons of the 1997 Wisconsin Census of Agriculture data with those from the 1992 and 1987 Censuses. Particular emphasis is placed on what these data can tell us about several key agricultural and rural issues--the decline in the number of dairy, hog, and other livestock farms; the declining rate of entry into farming; Wisconsin's loss of dairy leadership to California and the emergence of concern about the future of the state's dairy industry; the trend toward expansion of agricultural operations; the growing industrialization of agriculture; and growing concern about land-use trends such as the loss of land in farming and rising land prices. The significance of these trends in relation to how we should think about the future of family farming in Wisconsin is discussed.
PATS
Research Report No. 5. October, 1999. 11 pp. [90 KB] 
For copies of this report, please contact the PATS office @ 608-265-2908 or email nlcarlis@wisc.edu
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