U.S. dairy farms keep getting fewer and bigger

Graph by Investigate Midwest

The number of U.S. dairy farms has continued to shrink as dairying becomes one of "the most consolidated agricultural industries, according to a Department of Agriculture report," Ava Mandoli of Investigate Midwest reports. Dairy farm costs have increased, and milk prices have not kept pace, which means smaller dairy farms cannot squeeze out a profit, and have closed. "Since 2013, the number of licensed dairy herds has decreased by more than 40%," Mandoli reports. "Between 2000 and 2021, the average U.S. dairy managed to turn a profit just twice, according to a Food and Water Watch analysis of USDA data."

"The largest farms have gotten larger. By 2017, half of all herds numbered more than 1,300 cows, a figure expected to increase with the growth of large factory farms. . . . Large industrial operations have been better equipped to survive long periods of tight margins than family-operated farms, according to the USDA report,"Mandoli reports. "Companies that purchase and process milk have also been consolidating. More than 80% of all milk is now marketed by three dairy cooperatives: Dairy Farmers of America, Land O’Lakes and California Dairies.