June is Dairy Month!

Did you know that June is Dairy Month?! I thought I would share some interesting facts about dairy farming and cows to start the month out right!

• 97% of all dairy farms are family owned.
• As of 2014, there were only 45,344 licensed dairy farms in the U.S.
• As of 2014, Washington State had 480 licensed dairy farms.
• The average herd size for Washington State is 569 cows.
• The top three commodities in Washington State are Apples, Dairy & Wheat.
• Washington State ranks 10^th in total milk production.
• The top two counties in Washington State for milk production are Yakima & Whatcom County. Yakima County ranks 8^th in the nation for milk production and Whatcom County ranks 33^rd.
• The United States ranks 2^nd in overall milk production. The European Union ranks 1^st. The United States ranks 2^nd number of cows in milk production. So basically only counting cows milking and not young stock.
• All milk is antibiotic-free. All of Washington State is rBST-free. Northwest Dairy Association is an rBST-free cooperative therefore all our farms do not use it. You do not have to buy organic if wanting to avoid its use or antibiotics.

If you are on social media make sure to follow along with the hashtag #JuneDairyMonth to see what dairy farms across the country are sharing about their farm. I will be sharing all month long at facebook.com/StaufferDairy.