The dairy industry in the United States includes the farms, cooperatives, and companies that produce milk, cheese and related products such as milking machines, and distribute them to the consumer. By 1925, the United States had 1.5-2 million dairy cows, each producing an average of 4200 lb of milk per year. By 2007, there were 9.1 million dairy cows with an average milk production of over 20,000 pounds per year and eight pounds per gallon.Alice C. Richer, "Dairy Industry" in Historical Encyclopedia of American Business, edited by Richard L Wilson (2009) pp:215–218.
History European dairy practices varied from place to place, and immigrants to the United States would work together to import and improve on the best Europe traditions. One result was a variety of dairy practices across the United States.T. V. Selleck, "The Dutch Immigrants of Southern California and the Dairy Industry, 1920-1960." European contributions to American studies 64 (2006): 187+Steven J. Keillor, "Agricultural change and crosscultural exchange: Danes, Americans, and dairying, 1880-1930." Agricultural History 67#4 (1993), p. 58+ online
21st-century farms
There are 40,200 dairy farms in the United States, down from 111,800 in 1995.See Hoard's Dairyman February 26, 2018 In 2017 the top five dairy states are, in order by total milk production; California, Wisconsin, New York, Idaho, and Texas. Dairy farming remains important in Florida, Minnesota, Ohio and Vermont.
Herd size in the US varies between 1,200 on the West Coast and Southwest, where large farms are commonplace, to roughly 50 in the Midwest and Northeast, where land-base is a significant limiting factor to herd size. The average herd size in the U.S. is about one hundred cows per farm but the median size is 900 cows with 49% of all cows residing on farms of 1000 or more cows.
Production by state Production of milk per state in 2019 was as follows: + 2019 production of milk State Production (million pounds) Production (%) Alabama 60 <0.1% Alaska N/A N/A Arizona 4,769 2.2% Arkansas 67 0.0% California 40,564 18.6% Colorado 4,807 2.2% Connecticut 428 0.2% Delaware 74 <0.1% Florida 2,346 1.1% Georgia 1,771 0.8% Hawaii N/A N/A Idaho 15,631 7.2% Illinois 1,748 0.8% Indiana 4,073 1.9% Iowa 5,291 2.4% Kansas 3,819 1.7% Kentucky 941 0.4% Louisiana 135 0.1% Maine 621 0.3% Maryland 840 0.4% Massachusetts 192 0.1% Michigan 11,385 5.2% Minnesota 9,931 4.5% Mississippi 126 0.1% Missouri 1,100 0.5% Montana 259 0.1% Nebraska 1,409 0.6% Nevada 762 0.3% New Hampshire 238 0.1% New Jersey 100 0.0% New Mexico 8,187 3.7% New York 15,122 6.9% North Carolina 902 0.4% North Dakota 326 0.1% Ohio 5,425 2.5% Oklahoma 731 0.3% Oregon 2,592 1.2% Pennsylvania 10,108 4.6%Rhode Island 10.6 <0.1% South Carolina 206 0.1% South Dakota 2,810 1.3% Tennessee 551 0.3% Texas 13,850 6.3% Utah 2,262 1.0% Vermont 2,697 1.2% Virginia 1,490 0.7% Washington 6,783 3.1% West Virginia 90 <0.1% Wisconsin 30,601 14.0% Wyoming 146.6 0.1% Sum 218,382 100%
See also
Animal husbandry Dairy Dairy cattle Dairy farming Dairy products Factory farming Family farm List of dairy products List of cheesemakers List of dairy products List of dairy product companies in the United States Managed intensive grazing Veal Wisconsin dairy industry
Notes
Further reading Apps, Jerry. Cheese: The making of a Wisconsin tradition (University of Wisconsin Press, 2004). Bailey, Kenneth W. Marketing and pricing of milk and dairy products in the United States (Iowa State University Press, 1997). Blayney, Don P. "The Changing Landscape of U.S. Milk Production" (USDA, 2002) online Bowen, Sarah, and Kathryn De Master. "Wisconsin’s 'Happy Cows'? Articulating heritage and territory as new dimensions of locality." Agriculture and Human Values 31.4 (2014): 549-562. online Cardoso, Clarissa S., et al. "Imagining the ideal dairy farm." Journal of Dairy Science 99.2 (2016): 1663-1671. online Dillon, John J. Seven Decades of Milk - A History of New York's Dairy Industry (2010) DuPuis, E. Melanie. Nature's perfect food: How milk became America's drink (NYU Press, 2002). complete text online Fuquay, John W. ed. Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences (2nd Edition, 4 vol 2011), comprehensive coverage Janus, Edward. Creating Dairyland: How caring for cows saved our soil, created our landscape, brought prosperity to our state, and still shapes our way of life in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Historical Society, 2011). Keillor, Steven J. "Agricultural change and crosscultural exchange: Danes, Americans, and dairying, 1880-1930." Agricultural History 67#4 (1993), p. 58+ online Khosrova, Elaine. Butter: A Rich History (2016) excerpt Kurlansky, Mark. Milk: A 10,000-Year History (2019) excerpt McMurry, Sally. Transforming rural life: Dairying families and agricultural change, 1820-1885 (Johns Hopkins UP, 1995). Porter, John. The History and Economics of the New Hampshire Dairy Industry (University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service, 2007).
Steele, Catherine Baumgarten. "The Steele Brothers: Pioneers in California's Great Dairy Industry." California Historical Quarterly 20.3 (1941): 259-273. online Switzer, Robert L. A Family Farm: Life on an Illinois Dairy Farm (2012) Valenze, Deborah. Milk: A Local and Global History (2011) excerpt