US Lost 6% of Dairy Farms impacting Top 10 States
The United States lost 6% of its dairies in 2024 and kept milk production essentially flat.
The percentage decline in dairy farms is consistent with the past several years, according to USDA data released Feb. 21.
Only five states now have at least 1,000 dairies — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota and Ohio.
California, where most dairy herds were infected with avian influenza last year, dropped 75 farms to 995.
Wisconsin dropped 400 dairies and has 5,520. Pennsylvania shed 90 farm and has 4,850.
The percentage losses of farms in states with the most dairies were comparable to 2023, though California’s losses accelerated from 4% to 7%.
Because farm sizes differ, the states with the most dairies aren’t necessarily the leading producers.
The top 10 dairy producers in 2024 were California, Wisconsin, Texas, Idaho, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington and Iowa.
That represents a few changes in ranking from 2023. Texas edged out Idaho for third place, and New Mexico dropped from ninth to 11th place. New Mexico shed 11% of its milk production and let Iowa into the top 10.
California produced 40 billion pounds of milk last year, a 2% drop.
Texas milk production grew 3%, the strongest percentage gain of the top 10.
Nationwide, 24,800 dairy farms produced 226 billion pounds of milk last year.
Source : DAirynews7x7 Feb 24th 2025 Lancasterfarming