The average herd now produces five times more milk per cow than a century ago, keeping the state competitive despite losing dairy farms.
The number of Wisconsin dairy herds slipped below 5,000 in August, just 3% of the number of dairy herds the state boasted at its peak nearly 100 years ago.
The official number, as compiled by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, was 4,991 licensed dairy herds in the Dairy State as of Aug. 1, down from 5,222 a year earlier. The state had 5,470 dairy herds back in 2024.
Dairy herd numbers have been on a downward trend since NASS recorded 167,000 dairy herds in the state in 1930.
1960: 95,000
1980: 44,000
2000: 19,232
2026: 4,991
SEE ALSO:
Wisconsin has its fewest dairy herds in decades — and about the same number of cows
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- - Volume: 26 - WEEK: 35 Date: 8/28/2026 7:05:46 PM -