While dairy farms today may not be the same as your parents or grandparents may have told you about, 98% are still family owned and operated. The trend over recent years is for the total number of dairy cows to hold relatively steady while the number of farms decreases. Though the average size of the dairy farm has increased the same values of caring for the animals and land still exist. In fact, technology and research have enabled us to do a better job of these.
Those of you familiar with operating a small business know it can be difficult to have children join the family business. The modernization and increased size of farms has made this possible in the dairy industry. With current land values and availability, expanding operations is often the only way for younger generations to be a part of the production side of the dairy industry. Adding younger generations is important to the long-term existence of dairy farms in the United States which is critical to the future safety and affordability of dairy products.
An advantage larger farms can offer is specialization. Many farms today either purchase more of their feed for the cows or hire other farmers to plant, fertilize, and harvest their crops for them. This gives farm managers more time to for the care and nourishment of the animals. A developing technology is to convert cow waste into electricity with what is a called a methane digestor. Digestors are wonderful but cost millions of dollars and cannot be afforded by smaller farms.
A major topic in the dairy industry for many years now is "Cow Comfort". I'll tell you more about that in my next blog.
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