Wisconsin Loses 10% of its Farms

The new Census of Agriculture for Wisconsin has been released. Taken once every five years, it looks at farm data from across the country. The latest numbers cover 2017-2022 and it shows a decrease in both general and dairy farms.

Here’s Five Fast Facts About the Decrease in Farms:

1. 🐄 Down - Wisconsin had 58,521 farms in 2022, which is a 10% drop from 2017. There were 6,216 dairy farms in 2022, which is about a 30% drop.
2. 🐔 Bigger - Before you start panicking, the data also shows current farms have more land, higher profits, and larger herds. 
3. 🐖 Shifting - So why the decrease? The cost of doing business. Farms have closed, some have consolidated, and some have expanded.
4. 🧑‍🌾 Next Generation - A promising statistic has popped up, too. There was a 16% increase in new or beginning farmers since 2017.
5. 🥛 Greens - Farming is still profitable in the state. Our agricultural products had a market value of nearly $16.7B in 2022, which is 10th in the nation. It’s up from $11.4B in 2017. Quite the increase.

🔥Bottom line: The decrease may sound like doom and gloom at first, but it’s more of a case of business trends than anything else. We’re still one of the country’s top farming states and that’s the most important thing overall.

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