Wisconsin dairy industry

[9] Automatic milking systems were developed in the late 20th century and slowly introduced to Wisconsin farms.

[10] Since its introduction, Intensive dairy farming, also called factory-farms, has allowed farmers to keep upwards of 750 cows.

[22] Rapidly, in the 1860s, the wheat farms began suffering mass soil depletion and insect infestations, lowering the quality and yield of the crop.

[4] During the 1880s, with pressure from the Wisconsin Dairymen’s Association, farms across the state began switching to producing dairy.

[23] The invention and widespread use of the refrigerated rail car allowed many farms to switch to producing dairy products and raising feed crops instead of wheat.

Brick cheese is created by using a higher temperature during the culturing process, leading to a softer texture.

[26] Colby cheese forgoes the cheddaring process, instead partially draining the whey and adding cold water to the curds.

[23] In 1895, the Wisconsin legislature prohibited the sale of yellow margarine, fearing that it would disrupt the state's dairy industry.

Wisconsin was the last state to repeal its margarine ban, the previous being Minnesota, which overturned theirs in 1963.

[19] In 1933, during the Great Depression, there was a series of strikes by Wisconsin dairy farmers attempting to raise the price of milk.

When states, such as California, started to experiment with new factory-farms, they saw great success, compared to Wisconsin's family farms.

In 2018, China and Mexico imposed large tariffs on the US, making it harder for farms to sell their dairy products.

[51] "Cheeseheads" is a nickname for people from Wisconsin or fans of the Green Bay Packers NFL football franchise.

[53] The dairy industry is prominently displayed on Wisconsin's state quarter, which features a round of cheese, head of a Holstein cow, and an ear of corn.

[54] The large scale production of dairy in Wisconsin has been a notable source of pollution to surface water.

Manure lagoons used by the industry frequently spill over or leak into the ground due to their usually insecure linings.

[55][56] Additionally, crops are often oversprayed with manure, leading to runoff into the surrounding water and increased risk of airborne disease spread.

[57][58] Both practices cause nutrients such as Phosphorus and Nitrogen to reach excessive levels in bodies of water, leading to toxic algal blooms, fish kills, and dead zones.