Dairy Farming in Wisconsin

Strong Farms. Strong Future.

Dairy farming is stewarding the land and protecting local waterways. It’s keeping cows healthy and happy. It’s looking out for our community and leaving the farm stronger for the next generation. It’s at the heart of what makes Wisconsin dairy farming great.

It's What We Do

Dairy farms in Wisconsin have practiced sustainability in one form or another for generations. Minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency are how we keep the farm strong for the next generation. Providing a nutritious diet and veterinary care keeps our cows healthy and helps ensure the highest quality dairy products. Caring for our land and water keeps Wisconsin’s dairy farming communities strong.

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99% of Wisconsin dairy farms are still family owned

The Wisconsin dairy industry has a $52.8 billion impact on the state economy

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Meet Real Wisconsin Dairy Farmers

Fulfilling Their Father's Vision

Fulfilling Their Father's Vision

Learn how Jamie Pagel Witcpalek and her brothers are keeping the farm in the family and turning poop into power — just as their father wanted — using methane digesters.

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Conserving Local Waterways

Conserving Local Waterways

Ken Feltz and his family are part of the 28 dairy-farmer-led watershed groups that protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land and water in Wisconsin.

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Looking Into Their Farm's Future

Looking Into Their Farm's Future

Cody Heller and his family discuss growing crops in fields with solar panels, saving energy through GPS guidance and redefining how to produce food across the nation.

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Wisconsin Dairy Farming

Dairy farmers in Wisconsin maximize efficiency and minimize waste to keep the farm strong for future generations. Thanks to innovations in crop production, irrigation and cow nutrition, producing a gallon of milk in 2017 required 30% less water and 21% less land than it did in 2007. The average dairy farmer also captures and reuses each gallon of water on their farm up to four times.

Dairy farmer in Wisconsin kneeling in hay to feed a brown and white spotted calf from a bottle.

Environmental Stewardship and Conservation

Wisconsin dairy farmers have a long history of caring for their land and water as just another way of caring for their cows, families, farms and communities.

Wisconsin is home to several farmer-led conservation programs, such as UW-Discovery Farms, that look to solve environmental challenges by improving farm practices.

Man in a t-shirt and baseball cap walks with his toddler daughter in a field of crops on a Wisconsin dairy farm.

Recognizing Good Environmental Stewardship on a Dairy Farm

In 2023, Noll’s Dairy Farm in Alma, Wisconsin, won the Leopold Conservation Award for their family’s efforts of environmental stewardship and conservation. They are one of approximately 20 farms across the nation to receive this honor.

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Aerial view of contour strip farming, a sustainable farming practice that preserves soil by alternating crops and grass.