Jessica Bloomberg
Executive Director
Iowa State Dairy Association
April 16, 2013
Industry Overview
Iowa
 1,750 dairy farms


includes cows, goats and one dairy sheep farm
family-owned
 210,000 dairy cows

herd sizes– 10 cows to 6,000 cows
 4.34 billion pounds of milk annually


2.25% of the 192.8 billion pounds in total U.S. milk production
ranks 12th nationally in total pounds of milk produced
Iowa’s Processing Scope
Iowa ranks among the top 10 states in—
 fluid milk bottling (9th)
 total dairy products processed (8th)
 cheese production (7th)
 cottage cheese production (6th)
 American cheese production (6th)
 ice cream production (4th)
Iowa has—
• 11 milk bottling plants processing fluid milk
• 10 plants processing dry milk products
• 11 plants processing cheese
• 7 plants processing ice cream
• more than 12 receiving and transfer stations to facilitate
sales and transportation of milk
Dairy cows and the economic activity that they generate
in the local economy have always and continue to be one
of the most robust economic stimuli that exist.
(Iowa State University’s Iowa’s Dairy Industry: An Economic Review)
Iowa’s Dairy Industry…
 Has a total economic impact per cow through
direct/indirect and induced commerce of $23,445.
 Each cow generates the equivalent of point one (.1)
full time job created throughout the entire dairy and
processing sectors. (Every 10 cows = 1 full time job)
 More than 22,000 jobs are supported by the activities
directly, indirectly and induced by a strong dairy
presence.
Dairy farms are GREAT for Iowa!
The Iowa dairy industry involves over $715 million in
sales of milk produced and $1.2 billion of processed
dairy products making it 1 of the 5 largest commodity
groups in the state.
Including the secondary impacts of input purchasing
and consumer spending by farmers and workers
involved in the dairy industry brings the total
economic effects to $4.9 billion.
Why Iowa?
Our Resources!
 Water
 Land
 People
 Transportation
 Top markets
To read the entire study
Iowa’s Dairy Industry: An Economic Review,
log on to ISDA’s website at
www.iowadairy.org.
[email protected]
515-971-3620
www.iowadairy.org