Contribution of Dairy to Wisconsin’s Economy

Key Economic Contributions (2022)

Metric	Value	% of State Total
Industrial Revenues	$52.84 billion	6.5%
Employment	120,700 jobs	3.3%
Labor Income	$7.89 billion	3.2%
Total Income	$13.71 billion	3.4%

Sector Breakdown (2022)

Sector	Industrial Revenues	Employment (Jobs)	Share of Total Dairy Impact
On-Farm	$15.2 billion	48,800	30%
Processing	$37.1 billion	70,200	70%

• Note: Cheese production consumes nearly 90% of Wisconsin’s milk, driving much of the processing activity.

Historical Trends in Dairy Farms

Year	Number of Dairy Farms	% Change from 2017	Dairy Cows	Milk Production (billion lbs)	% Change in Milk Production
2017	9,304	–	1,280,395	30.333	–
2022	6,533	-29.78%	1,264,272	32.123	+5.90%

• Farm Closures: The number of dairy farms decreased by 29.78% between 2017 and 2022.
• Milk Production: Despite the decline in farm numbers, milk production increased by 5.90%.

Employment and Income Trends

Sector	Average Income	Employment Multiplier	Total Employment Impact
Dairy On-Farm	$35,500	2.87	48,786 jobs
Dairy Processing	$82,070	2.64	78,940 jobs
All Dairy Employment	–	2.73	127,726 jobs

• Employment Multipliers: For every on-farm dairy job, 1.87 additional jobs are supported. In processing, 1.64 additional jobs are supported for each direct processing job.

Regional Economic Impact

Region	Total Economic Impact	% of Region’s Total Economic Activity	Dairy Dependency
East Central	$13.3 billion	8.1%	Moderate
Southwest	–	–	18.1%

• East Central is the largest contributor to dairy’s economic impact, while the Southwest region is the most dependent on dairy for its economic activity.

Conclusion

The dairy industry remains integral to Wisconsin’s economy despite the challenges posed by consolidation and farm exits. The expansion of dairy processing, especially cheese production, continues to drive employment and income, contributing to economic resilience across the state.