Milk Production Is Up Despite Decades-Long Decline In Us Dairy Farms

By Juan Vassallo

This year, a Pennsylvania dairy farm with roots reaching back to before the Civil War shut down. Its closure is part of a decades-long decline: the U.S. has been losing more than 2,100 dairy farms, on average, every year since 2003.

But the U.S. dairy industry is not shrinking. It is producing more milk from fewer farms. Better genetics and larger, more efficient operations have helped the industry increase milk production while driving thousands of smaller, often family-run farms out of business.

Dairy is part of a larger transformation in American agriculture.

The year 2015 was just before a national election – which have major influences on policy paths, administration goals, and how farmers feel about their future.