Large Dairy Relocations – Water Dominates the Decision

By Christopher Wolf (Michigan State), Marin Bozic (U. Minnesota), Mark Stephenson (U. Wisconsin) and Katie Behnke (Blimling and Associates)

With dramatic drought headlines dominating western headlines, farmers in water-reliant sectors such as dairy may be reconsidering their location decisions.   In late 2013 a team of researchers surveyed more than 100 large-scale dairy producers from throughout the country and asked them about the factors most important to them for locating modern dairy operations.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the top tier of factors all revolve around water.  These include the availability of local forages, the cost of feed and the availability of water.  In their recent article in the magazine Choices, the researchers go on to discuss all the factors that these large-scale dairy producers consider important in location decisions and put dairy relocation factors and trends into perspective.  The read the article go to Where the Grass is Always Greener: Dairy Farmer Location Preferences

 

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