Report: Milk Cow Operations Decline; Increase Seen in Production

An overview of the U.S. dairy industry shows a decline in the number of total milk cow operations within the past eight years. Despite this decline, the number of large operations has increased along with overall milk production, according to a report by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Based on the report, there were 65,000 milk cow operations in 2009 compared to 97,460 in 2001, a 33 percent decline; however, milk production increased 15 percent to 189,320 million pounds in 2009 compared to 165,332 in 2001. The number of smaller operations dropped from 94,665 in 2001 to 61,650 in 2009, while larger operations with 2,000 or more heads increased by 128 percent. Read the report.