New Dairy Producer Survey Results Released By WI DATCP

A new Wisconsin Dairy Producer survey shows that almost 10% of the farmers that responded, said they felt the need to access mental health services in the past 12 months, due to the daily challenges they face on the farm. Almost half of the farmers that responded also said some portion of their family income comes from off-farm employment. 

A concern over the past few years is the fact that the future of the family farm is cloudy, with not enough young farmers willing to jump in and take over. Almost half of the farmers that took the survey said their farm’s primary decision maker was aged 50-64. One bright spot was 83% of those surveyed said they believed their operation will be farming in the next 5 years. 

The survey and the results were from the Wisconsin Department of Ag, Trade and Consumer Protection. The last survey was done in 2010. You can access the survey at https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Growing_WI/DairyDevelopment.aspx