Losing one dairy farm a day is not 'normal'

Headlines from the past month reveal the disappointing truth about the state of Wisconsin’s dairy industry. “Dairy industry breathes a sigh of relief,” said one headline, celebrating a “return to normal” now that most of the farmers who were axed by Grassland Dairy Products have found new milk buyers. And what does “normal” look like? “Dairy farm exits outpaced 10-year trend,” read another headline from Hoard’s Dairyman, noting Wisconsin lost 400 dairy farms in 2016.It did not go unnoticed by Wisconsin farmers that at the same time Grassland Dairy was dropping dozens of family farms, it was directly engaged in assisting the development of a 5,000-cow CAFO in Dunn County. Grassland is the largest producer of butter in the nation, with a market share of nearly 50 percent. Its effort to consolidate ownership at both the processing and farm level is a perfect example of why we need stronger anti-corporate farming laws.