The United States Department of Agriculture reported this afternoon that the country lost 2,500 dairy farms in 2011, a 4% decline. Total dairy farms with at least one cow now total 60,000.
The largest losses came from herds with 50 to 99 cows, down 1,000 herds and now totaling 14,800. Herds with one to 29 cows declined 600, and herds with 30 to 49 cows declined 700.
Herds with fewer than 100 cows now produce just 13.6% of the nation’s milk. And herds with more than 200 cows produce 75.5%. Herds with 1,000 to 1,999 cows produce 15.7%, and herds with more than 2,000 cows produce 34.6% of the country’s milk supply.
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