It is hard to believe that we have already reached the beginning of June. Schools around the 87th Assembly District have wrapped up their school years and the students and staff are starting to enjoy a well-deserved summer vacation. Another exciting part of June is celebrating our state’s dairy industry with dairy month.
The quality of Wisconsin Dairy is known around the world. When you talk to folks from outside our state and ask them what is the first thing they think of when they hear Wisconsin you will probably hear either the Green Bay Packers or dairy. The dairy industry is pretty important here in Wisconsin. According to the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, the dairy industry contributes more than $43 billion dollars to our state’s economy each year. In fact, dairy means more to Wisconsin than citrus to Florida or potatoes to Idaho. It is because of our state’s amazing dairy industry that Wisconsin has earned the nickname of “America’s Dairyland”.
The importance of the dairy industry is nothing new in Wisconsin. In fact, the legislature added “America’s Dairyland” to our state’s license plates back in 1939. The following year Governor Julius P. Heil signed a proclamation declaring the first June Dairy Month in Wisconsin and Wisconsin has been celebrating ever since. Here are some dairy facts to celebrate this month:
- Wisconsin has 7,808 licensed dairy herds and approximately 1,270,000 dairy cows.
- The daily milk production per cow in Wisconsin is 67 pounds or 7.8 gallons
- If Wisconsin were its own country, it would be the 4th largest cheese producing country in the world only behind the rest of the United States, Germany, and France.
- In 2018 Wisconsin cheesemakers made 3.42 billion pounds of cheese which accounted for 26% of the nation’s total cheese production.
- Wisconsin leads the nation in the production of 803 million pounds of specialty cheeses.
With the importance of agriculture and dairy to both Wisconsin and the 87th District, I am proud to serve on the Assembly Agriculture Committee again this session. So far this session the committee has held several hearings to learn more about the issues impacting the dairy industry and ideas to strengthen this important industry. As your state representative, I am proud to represent the hardworking dairy farmers and workers of the 87th Assembly District.
The June Dairy Breakfasts around the district are one of the highlights of my year. I’ve already had the opportunity to attend a couple of breakfasts around the district this month and I’m looking forward to more throughout the month. On Saturday, June 15th is the Gilman 4-H Dairy Breakfast during the Gilman June Dairy Days Celebration and the Sawyer County Farm Bureau Dairy Breakfast at the Sawyer County Fairgrounds on Saturday June 22nd. I hope to see you out at one of these great community events!
Last Update: Jun 11, 2019 3:33 pm CDT
