Western U.S. has the highest number of organic dairy cows per farm but the fewest farms

More than 80 percent of U.S. organic dairies were located in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, but these operations were smaller and less productive than those in the West. Only 7 percent of organic dairies were in the West, but these operations accounted for 31 percent of organic milk cows. Organic dairy operations in the Northeast averaged 53 cows; the Upper Midwest, 64 cows; and the West, 381 cows. Organic dairy cows in the West averaged nearly 16,000 pounds of annual milk production per cow, 2,700 pounds more than in the Upper Midwest and 4,000 pounds more than in the Northeast. This map appeared in the June 2010 issue of Amber Waves magazine.

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