TRENDS IN THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF DAIRY FARMS IN MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN

Declines in dairy farm numbers and milk production in Minnesota and Wisconsin continue to cause concern to the industry and stimulate activities and proposals to reverse the trend. But, simply viewing the aggregate changes in the states' industries overlooks some of the more positive changes in industry structure. The purpose of this article is to utilize the data that have recently been made available from the 1992 Census of Agriculture to illustrate some divergent trends in dairy farm structure and to make some projections of future industry structure in these two states.