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Consolidation in U.S. Dairy Farming

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  • McDonald, James M.
  • Law, Jonathan
  • Mosheim, Roberto

Abstract

The number of licensed U.S. dairy herds fell by more than half between 2002 and 2019, with an accelerating rate of decline in 2018 and 2019, even as milk production continued to grow. As a result, production has been shifting to much larger but fewer farms. Larger operations realize lower costs of production, on average, and those advantages persist. This structural change also features shifts in the location of dairy farming and in the production practices used on farms. This report, following upon two earlier ERS reports on the subject, details how the dairy sector has been transformed, and assesses the financial and productive factors behind that transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • McDonald, James M. & Law, Jonathan & Mosheim, Roberto, 2020. "Consolidation in U.S. Dairy Farming," Economic Research Report 303971, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersrr:303971
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.303971
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Ifft, Jennifer E. & Yi, Jing, 2019. "Why Did Dairy Farms Exit?," 2019 Annual Meeting, July 21-23, Atlanta, Georgia 290689, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
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    4. MacDonald, James M. & Hoppe, Robert A. & Newton, Doris, 2018. "Three Decades of Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture," Economic Information Bulletin 276247, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    5. Nigel Key & Stacy Sneeringer, 2014. "Potential Effects of Climate Change on the Productivity of U.S. Dairies," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1136-1156.
    6. O'Donoghue, Erik J. & Hoppe, robert A. & Banker, David E. & Ebel, Robert & Fuglie, Keith & Korb, Penni & Livingston, Michael & Nickerson, Cynthia & Sandretto, Carmen, 2011. "The Changing Organization of U.S. Farming," Economic Information Bulletin 291938, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. McBride, William & Greene, Catherine, 2015. "Despite Profit Potential, Organic Field Crop Acreage Remains Low," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, issue 10, pages 1-1, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fan, Zaifeng & Jump, Jeff & Tse, Yiuman & Yu, Linda, 2023. "Volatility in US dairy futures markets," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    2. Lin, Ziyi & Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel & Wolf, Christopher A. & Reed, Kristan Foster, 2023. "Extreme Weather Impacts on US Dairy Production: Evidence from 8 Million Cows," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335868, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Andrea González & Juan Carlos Hallak & Gabriel Scattolo & Andres Tacsir, 2022. "Coordinación de los Sistemas Agroalimentarios en Argentina y Capacidad de Desarrollar la Competitividad a Medida," Working Papers 172, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    4. Joanna Bereznicka & Ludwik Wicki, 2021. "Do Farm Subsidies Improve Labour Efficiency in Farms in EU Countries?," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2B), pages 925-937.
    5. Karlsson, Johan O. & Robling, Helena & Cederberg, Christel & Spörndly, Rolf & Lindberg, Mikaela & Martiin, Carin & Ardfors, Elsa & Tidåker, Pernilla, 2023. "What can we learn from the past? Tracking sustainability indicators for the Swedish dairy sector over 30 years," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    6. Aneta Bełdycka-Bórawska & Piotr Bórawski & Marta Guth & Andrzej Parzonko & Tomasz Rokicki & Bogdan Klepacki & Marcin Wysokiński & Agnieszka Maciąg & James William Dunn, 2021. "Price changes of dairy products in the European Union," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(9), pages 373-381.

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    Keywords

    Farm Management;

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