Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (PATS)
Room 202 Taylor Hall
University of Wisconsin-Madison
427 Lorch St.
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 265-2908
FAX: (608) 265-6399
Dairy Structural Change in Wisconsin
Fact Sheets No. 25, October 2007
by Bradford Barham
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Dairy farming in Wisconsin has undergone significant structural change in the past two decades. Major changes in the size distribution of Wisconsin dairy farms have occurred, led by the recent rapid growth in number of herds over 200 cows and the steady decline in the number of herds under 50 cows. In addition, as many as five distinctive dairy farming systems (1. large-scale confinement; 2. medium-large scale confinement; 3. management-intensive rotational grazing; 4. organic; and 5. Amish) have emerged from the moderate-scale, semi-confinement approach which was predominant till the 1990s.
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