What is the Grow Wisconsin Dairy Team?
What is the Team’s Mission?
What are the Team’s Goals?
Why was the Team formed?

What is the Grow Wisconsin Dairy Team?  back to top

It is a joint venture between the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Department of Commerce, UW Center for Dairy Profitability, UW Extension and Wisconsin Technical Colleges. Supplemental funding is provided through a $2.4 million federal Value Added Dairy Initiative grant with the support of Senator Herb Kohl and Rep. Dave Obey.

What is the Team’s mission?  back to top

The Grow Wisconsin Dairy Team has two missions:

1. Coordinate and focus resources for dairy farmers modernizing their businesses.
   
2. Add value to milk produced in Wisconsin by focusing on new marketing opportunities.

What are the Team’s goals?  back to top

The team has two primary focuses.

1. Producer modernization: over the next five years, the team’s goal is to assist 1,500 dairy farmers with modernization efforts, thereby increasing milk production in Wisconsin by 15 percent.
   
2. Value Chain Enhancement: over the next five years, the team aims to help create 50 new value-added dairy enterprises to help build value in the dairy sector, assist with 15 collaborative processor-producer value chain projects, and increase dairy’s total economic output by $1.5 billion.

Why was the Grow Wisconsin Dairy Team formed?  
back to top

Wisconsin milk production is currently 10-15% below what Wisconsin milk processors need for their dairy product sales. Processors are obtaining milk from other regions to offset the insufficient milk production in Wisconsin, and some are even dis-investing in Wisconsin and relocating to the West. Others are converting to specialty cheese and specialty dairy products to obtain higher margins.

Wisconsin has both large and small processors who are attempting to adapt to the changing competitive environment but who are in need of expertise and technical assistance to better compete at the high end. Wisconsin dairy farms are modernizing but at a rate too slow to replace lost milk production. Some are adopting managed grazing as a means to lower costs, while others are integrating forward into cheese and other value-added products.

To retain its status as America’s Dairyland, Wisconsin’s challenge is to adopt innovate strategies, such as the Grow Wisconsin Dairy Team, to help its dairy farmers and dairy processors reinvest in their operations, compete successfully, and build upon the state’s strong market recognition and identity.

For more information on any of the programs, contact the Wisconsin Farm Center at 1-800-942-2474 or visit www.datcp.state.wi.us, keyword: Growing Wisconsin Agriculture.