US dairy news led by WI failures, big operators' stability

Having followed Walker's disastrous impact on rural Wisconsin and the dairy industry,

I'm adding this to our Scott Walker legacy coverage:

Wisconsin, the state with the most dairy farms in the nation, also had the most going out of business, with 590 farms closing their barn doors in 2018. This is a 6.5% decline.  

However, cow numbers in the Badger State remain at 1,270,000 cows, down 5,000 head from a year ago but only down 1,000 head from five years ago.

And with the institutionalization of the big operators comes the predictable manure runoff and drinking water contamination.