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Farming Inwisconsin At The End Of The Century: Results Of The 1999 Wisconsin Farm Poll, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, S. Moon, M. Ostrom, B. Barham

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Farming in Wisconsin has undergone considerable change in the last few decades. U.S. Census statistics suggest that the state lost almost 13 percent of its farms and over 10 percent of its farmland between 1987-1997. The decline in farm numbers was particularly severe for mid-sized commercial livestock farms. During this period, the number of hog farms dropped by almost 60 percent, dairy farms fell by 40 percent, and farms with any harvested cropland declined by more than 20 percent (Buttel, 1999). Meanwhile, when dairy and hog farm number declines are removed from the equation, census results show that there was …