Newly released figures on the number of farmers still milking cows in America's Dairyland shows some similar trends compared to recent years. According to the Wisconsin Ag Statistics Service, there were 6,140 herds milking during the first week of December. That's a drop of 393 from January 1, 2022. During all of 2021, a total of 399 farmers sold off their herds, while 360 went out of business during 2020.
Back in 2019, the state saw a reduction of 818 licensed herds; and more than 500 in both 2018 and 2017.
Clark County continues to hold the highest number of herds in the state with 667, followed by Marathon County with 387.
Milwaukee County registered just one herd as of December 1, with Forest, Florence and Oneida Counties each losing their remaining dairy farms in recent years.
However, the reduction in total farms does not mean there's less cows or a loss of production. That's because the state's remaining dairy operations are still milking over 1.28 million head of cows and producing a record amount of milk.
DATCP records show that 92 percent of state dairy operations are Grade A certified, with eight percent licensed as Grade B.
Wisconsin has been keeping track of dairy farm numbers since 1950. At that time, the state had 143,000 dairy operations and accounted for about four percent of the nation's total dairy farms.
Total licensed dairy herds in Wisconsin during the past decade (as counted on January 1 of the respective years):
2022: 6,533
2021: 6,932
2020: 7,292
2019: 8,110
2018: 8,801
2017: 9,304
2016: 9,695
2015: 10,081
2014: 10,541
2013: 11,155
2012: 11,761
2011: 12,467
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Categories: Wisconsin, Livestock, Dairy Cattle