Missouri Dairy Business Update
Volume 2, Number 8
August 2002

As the US dairy industry concentrates and moves west, it is interesting to project current trends in Missouri to see what the near future may bring.

Using data on dairy herd sizes in Missouri from 1993 to 2000, the following projections of milk production by herd size in Missouri was created to show what is expected through 2005.

• Herds with between 100 and 199 cows are expected to produce an increasing share of Missouri's milk, moving from producing around 40% of the milk toward producing 50% of the milk.
• Herds with > 200 cows are expected in produce an increase share of Missouri's milk, moving from approximately 10% of the milk to 15% of the milk produced in Missouri. (Nationwide over 50% of the milk comes from these sized herds)
• Herds with 50 to 99 cows are expected to continue to decline to below 25% in the next few years.
• Herds with 30 to 50 cows are expected to produce a steady 15% of the states milk supply.