Scott Walker says crisis team needed to help state's crippled dairy industry

When larger and well-managed dairy operations in other parts of the country were threatening to steamroll Wisconsin’s sagging dairy industry about 30 years ago, it began making some radical changes recommended by a group of industry experts that made it more economically viable and ensured the state’s continued status as “America’s Dairyland.” With the state dairy industry at a crossroads once again, a new group of state experts will soon begin meeting and eventually make recommendations that the group’s leader is hoping will put the state dairy industry back on another strong track. But he also acknowledged it’s unfair to ask the group to match some of the spectacular recommendations made by the first group. An emphasis on making specialty cheeses — the cornerstone of the state cheese industry — and expanding product development of whey, a key dairy export, were two of the 75 recommendations made by the Wisconsin Dairy Task Force in a 1987 report. It also told dairy farmers to embrace some of the technology and methods that made the larger, well-maintained dairy operations in California so successful.