Wisconsin farmers aren't producing enough milk to satisfy Wisconsin cheesemakers, said a panel of experts at the Wisconsin State Journal's second Business Roundtable on Oct. 8.
Current estimates for usage of Wisconsin milk are that about 90 percent of the state's milk is used for cheese production, according to the State Journal. The remaining milk is used for other purposes, such as fluid milk.
In the Upper Midwest milk marketing area, which contains Wisconsin, 86 percent of milk was used for cheesemaking in 2013, according to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The average across all markets was only 47 percent.
The Business Roundtable panelists – a mix of academics, businessmen and state regulators – identified two different but complementary approaches that Wisconsin farmers are using to increase milk production.
The most significant production gains are coming from increased production. In January 1964, the average Wisconsin cow produced 750 pounds of milk. By January 2014, average production had more than doubled, at 1,825 pounds of milk per cow.
“We shouldn’t discount the increase in milk per cow. Productivity has been just a remarkable trend in the dairy industry. Almost linear, it hardly deviates at all year to year,” said panelist Mark Stephenson, director of the University of Wisconsin – Madison Center for Dairy Profitability. Wisconsin's 2013 average yearly production per cow was 21,693 pounds.
Panelists attributed the increases in production to gradual improvement in farming practices, facilities and nutrition.
Farmers are also increasing the size of their herds. The number of cows in the state increased by 15,000 cows to 1.27 million cows from 2003 to 2013. PD
—Summarized by Progressive Dairyman staff from cited sources
