To say that the Wisconsin dairy industry has had it tough this year is an understatement. In the past seven months, 382 dairy farms have left the business. That’s an attrition rate of 4.3%, and there are still five months to go. At this time last year, 283 Wisconsin farms had exited the business, an attrition rate of 3% year-to-date. With a total of 465 dairy farms left the business by year-end in 2017.
On the positive side, just 44 farms called it quits in July which was 10 fewer farms than had left the business in June. There are currently 8,419 dairy farms licensed in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
