About 6.8 per cent of American dairy farmers left the industry in 2018, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The organization reported in March that there were 37,468 dairy farms in 2018, down from 40,199 the previous year, a drop of 2,731.
Five states saw at least 230 dairy farms close up shop. Wisconsin, which has the highest number of dairy farms, also lost the most, going from 9,090 in 2017 to 8,500 in 2018, a drop of 6.5 per cent.
No state saw an increase in the number of dairy farms, although 12 had no change. Most of those states had few dairy farms.
According to the USDA, Alaska has just one dairy farm, the least of all 50 states (Hawaii is the next lowest with two dairy farms).
According to the Canadian government, there were 10,593 dairy farms in Canada in 2018, down from 10,951 in 2017, a drop of 3.3 per cent.
