The Changing Landscape of U.S. Milk Production

by Donald Blayney

The U.S. dairy industry underwent dramatic restructuring during the last 50 or so years. Key structural features of the dairy industry are the quantity of milk produced and the location, number, size, and organization of dairy farms. The questions of where, how much, and by whom milk is produced are important from both a national and a regional perspective. The structure of milk production defines the potential direction of the industry. Dairy farms continue to grow, become more concentrated in certain regions, and become more specialized in producing milk. However, small traditional dairy operations remain scattered around the country.

Keywords: Dairy, farm numbers, farm organization, milk production, structural change

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Appendix table 1--U.S. milk production, 1950-2000
• Appendix table 2--U.S. milk production structural factors, by size of operation, selected years
• Appendix table 3--Regional shares of milk production, selected years
• Appendix table 4--Regional shares of operations with milk cows, selected years
• Appendix table 5--Regional shares of specialized dairy farms, selected years
• Appendix table 6--Regional shares of milk cows, selected years
• Appendix table 7--Regional cow numbers per operation, selected years
• Appendix table 8--Regional milk per cow, selected years