PATS - Program on Agricultural Technology Studies

Historic and Regional Trends in the US and Wisconsin Dairy Sectors
Fact Sheets No. 11, June 2001
by Douglas Jackson-Smith and Bradford Barham

Adobe PDF

Download (PDF) [32KB]

Medium-sized herds milked primarily by family laborers have long defined the structure of dairy farming in Wisconsin and most of the United States. Dairy farming has played and continues to play an important economic, cultural, and land management role in Wisconsin. As such, continuing declines in the number of dairy farmers constitutes a matter of public policy concern. The Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (PATS) has been monitoring and analyzing changes in the dairy sector in order to provide information to guide policy. This fact sheet examines historic trends in farm numbers and regional shifts in dairy farming.
Fact sheets 12-14 further explore aspects of structural change in Wisconsin’s dairy farm sector.

Associated Staff

Bradford Barham

Associated Projects

Expansion, Modernization, and Specialization on Wisconsin Dairy Farms