According to the USDA’s latet milk production report, nearly nine percent of the nation’s dairy farms closed their doors in 2019. The report says there were slightly more than 34,000 licensed dairy farms at the end of the year, down more than 3,200 from 2018.
Leasing the was with the most lost dairy farms was Wisconsin, down 780 or nine percent. Other large losses reported were in Pennsylvania (-470), New York (- 310), Ohio (-260), Minnesota (-250), and Michigan (-190).
Seventeen states lost at least 10 percent of their licensed herds.
The average herd size last year dropped by 0.7 percent while overall milk production increased 0.4 percent.
