Wisconsin home to over 6,000 dairies Farmers evaluate their place in the industry

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

Rising input costs, tighter margins, marketplace volatility and increasing regulatory pressures are contributing to the steady decline in the number of Wisconsin dairy farms.

As of Jan. 1, Wisconsin was home to 6,116 licensed dairy herds, down 417 from just one year ago, according to agricultural statistics published by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. That number has fallen consistently over the past decade, down from 10,541 licensed dairy farms in 2014.

The decrease in the number of dairy farms operating in the state affects those directly involved in the dairy industry as well as those in surrounding industries. Annually, the dairy industry in Wisconsin contributes more than $45.6 billion to the state’s economy.

But, as the economic and market factors changes, farmers are left deciding whether to continue on.

Robert Pierce and his aunt Pam Pierce are in the position to choose how their family farm might continue as they near the end of their own careers as dairy farmers.

“This is all I really have ever done and all I really ever wanted to do,” Robert Pierce said. “I was milking cows before and after school as a kid, and I joined the operation after I graduated.”

The pair milk 30 cows on their Lafayette County dairy farm near Darlington,

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Wisconsin, on the farm that was purchased by Pierce’s grandfather in the 1960s. Pierce has no children to