Andy Hatch has watched dairy farms disappear around him. About 15 years ago, 15,000 dairy farms had 1.2 million cows in Wisconsin. Today, only about 6,500 dairy farms milk the same number of cows, an extreme consolidation that has wreaked havoc on communities and the economy.
“Our towns are being depopulated, schools are closing,” said Hatch, a co-owner of Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. And the cheese producers, too, are closing. He spoke about a neighboring commodity cheese facility that was purchased, immediately shuttered and relocated to Canada. There, production costs are more affordable.
“Economically, the trajectory we are on does not look sustainable,” said Hatch. “There is not enough industry to employ people. There is not a new form of agriculture that has replaced dairy farming.”
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