News

South Dakota’s dairy industry growing

South Dakota’s dairy cow numbers grew by 2-thousand between 2012 and 2013 for a total of 94-thousand. Milk production grew by nearly three percent in that time.

South Dakota State University Extension says while it’s the state’s ample supplies of both water and feed that are the top reasons for that growth, South Dakota must continue to grow its local dairy processing industry.

Several processing plants are currently being upgraded and there are several new start-ups and SDSU Dairy Science Department has been involved in various stages of those developments.

South Dakota is 21st among states for overall milk production and 22nd in total number of dairy cows.