Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 526 Principles of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources 10.2 Dairy Industry Words to Know artificial insemination (A.I.) butter buttermilk cheese condensed milk cream evaporated milk frozen yogurt homogenization ice cream mastitis milk milking parlor parturition somatic cell sour cream teats udder yogurt Lesson Outcomes By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: „ Understand the size and scope of the U.S. dairy industry. „ Understand common terminology of the dairy industry. „ Identify common dairy products. „ Describe the components of the U.S. dairy industry. „ Understand commonly used production systems in the dairy industry. „ Describe different breeds of dairy cattle in the United States. Before You Read Take a moment to compare and contrast the differences and similarities between dairy cattle and beef cattle. Share the results with your classmates and teacher. Dairy cattle are cattle raised for their ability to produce large amounts of milk. According to the USDA, there are approximately 9.2 million head of dairy cattle in the United States. Dairy cattle are found in all 50 states of the United States. More than 19% (1.78 million) of the total number of dairy cows are found in the state of California. The top five states (in order) in dairy production are California, Wisconsin, New York, Idaho, and Pennsylvania, Figure 10-11. Dairy Industry in the United States The U.S. dairy industry contributes approximately $140 billion to our economy. There are more than 50,000 dairies in the United States and more than 95% are family owned and operated. The average herd size for a dairy is 115 cows. Three-fourths of U.S. dairies have less than 100 cows, Figure 10-12. Eighty-five percent of milk produced in our country comes from dairies that have more than 100 cows. Dairy farms in the United States produce approximately 23 billion gallons of milk per year. The average dairy cow will produce almost 7 gallons of milk a day. That totals more than 2,500 gallons per year. The main commodity produced from dairy cattle is milk and milk products. However, when dairy cattle are harvested, they also produce beef. Dairy calves account for approximately 14% of beef production in the United States. One in every five pounds of beef consumed in our country comes from dairy cattle. Lesson