By MARK POWELL

The decline in U.S. dairy farms is continuing.
In the Mid-Atlantic states, the drop is most dramatic in New Jersey, which saw a 14.6 percent loss of dairy farms this past year.
In a report released late last month by the American Farm Bureau Federation from its Park Ridge, Ill., office, the trend to larger and fewer dairy farms is evident.
New Jersey lost 27 dairy operations last year, down to 158 from 185 in 1999. Maryland lost 41 dairy farms, down to 793 from the 834 licensed by the state to sell milk last year.
Virginia now has 998 dairy farms, a loss of 62 operations from 1999.
Delaware has 85, down from 90.
West Virginia has 157, down from 165.
And Pennsylvania — second only to Wisconsin in number of dairy operations — lost 285 dairy farms in one year. Pennsylvania now has 9,837 dairy farms. Wisconsin had a major loss as well in one year. The dairy state lost 1,370 dairy farms this past year.
Ken Olson, AFBF’s dairy specialist, did the number crunching in the report. His numbers are different than those in the USDA Ag Census because he counts only those dairy farms licensed to sell milk. The USDA counts farms with any number of dairy cows.
Olson said that since he started the survey in 1992, the United States has lost 36.9 percent (48,510) of its dairy herds.
“This year’s decrease of more than 4,500 dairy herds is a significant loss and has a major impact on the families involved, but is consistent with what has occurred over the past nine years,” Olson said.
He pinned the losses on low milk prices and the effects of drought, primarily.
And, he added, it’s probably going to get worse.
“We see a dynamic, changing dairy industry across the United States that is adjusting to new technology, price volatility, environmental concerns and a variety of other issues. The herd losses that have occurred are certain to have ongoing impacts on the dairy infrastructure across the nation as it adjusts to the changing herd structure.”
Olson also noted that the Northeast, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, has had the least loss of dairy herds over the last four years. The Southeast has lost the most: 42.3 percent since 1992.
At the same time as numbers of herds plummets, milk production is up in the country. Average milk production per cow increased from 15,570 pounds to 17,771 pounds from 1992 to 1999. Olson said the average will climb well over 18,000 pounds this year. Since 1992, the average size of U.S. dairy herds has upped from 73 to 111 cows.
Delaware had the largest average herd size in the Northeast: 129 cows. The average in New Mexico, in comparison, is 1,551 cows.