Wisconsin Fun Facts

Wisconsin Leads the Nation In:
* Number of Dairy Farms: 18,000
* Number of Cheese Plants: 126
* Total U.S. Cheese Production: 2 Billion Pounds
* Wisconsin is the first in the production of many popular cheese varieties.

Percent of Total U.S. Production:
* 80% - Cold Pack & Cheese Food
* 67% - Muenster
* 43% - Brick
* 26% - Cheddar
* 25% - Mozzarella

Wisconsin dairy farms produce more than 23 billion pounds of milk every year. That's about 14% of the country's total milk supply.

Wisconsin is the # 1 cheese-producing state, making 26% of the country's cheese.

Wisconsin cheesemakers use about 90% of Wisconsin's milk supply to make more than 2 billion pounds of cheese every year.

Wisconsin has 1,290 licensed cheesemakers--more than any other state.

Wisconsin has the country's most stringent state standards for cheesemaking and overall dairy product quality.

Wisconsin ranks first among all states in the production of Cheddar, American, Mozzarella, Brick, Muenster and Limburger cheeses.

Wisconsin is home to more than 126 cheese plants--more than any other state in the country--that produce more than 350 varieties, types and styles of Wisconsin cheese--nearly double that of any other state.

There are six major breeds of cattle in Wisconsin and the United States:
* Ayrshire
* Brown Swiss
* Guernsey
* Holstein
* Jersey
* Milking Shorthorn

In an average day, a dairy cow will:
* Eat about 90 pounds of feed
* Drink a bathtub full of water
* Produce 5 to 6 gallons of milk a day, which is about 80 8-ounce glasses of milk!

The average dairy cow weighs about 1.400 pounds.
* Cows have four stomach compartments.
* Cows spend an average of six hours each day eating, and an additional eight hours ruminating or chewing their cud.
* Most cows chew at least 50 times per minute.

* If people ate like cows, they would have to eat about 360 cheeseburgers and drink 400 to 800 glasses of water each day!
* To get the same amount of calcium provided by a quart of milk you would have to eat three and a half pounds of peas, 27 oranges, 50 tomatoes or 50 slices of whole wheat bread.

* Dairy farmers milk their cows at least twice a day, every day.
* There are approximately 340 to 350 squirts in a gallon of milk. Thank goodness milking machines were invented in 1865!

Remember the tale of Little Miss Muffet?
* Her curds and whey were an early version of cottage cheese.

The average American eats more than 27 pounds of cheese each year, 30% more than 10 years ago,and will consume about a ton of cheese during a lifetime!

It takes:
* 10 pounds of whole milk to make one pound of cheese.
* 12 pounds of whole milk to make one pound of ice cream.
* 21.2 pounds of whole milk to make one pound of butter.

* One quart of milk weighs 2.15 pounds
* One gallon of milk weighs 8.6 pounds
* 46.5 quarts of milk equals 100 pounds

It's neat to have a divider that fits the topic!

This info came to me thru a group. I find it interesting, but I do believe there is some old info here. I don't think the AVERAGE cow only produces 5-6 gallons a day. Some breeds do, but then there is the Holstein who is a major milker and many milk double that. So, please don't take the info as verbatim and fact. If you need to, please do research further and see what the real facts are. I'm posting this as a starting point. If you do research this, please do make a comment giving the info you found and if you have the source, that would be great too!

I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to find this info for EACH state here in the US. I would find that very interesting too.

I also didn't edit out the info that wasn't exactly food related. I feel it's important that we all learn more about our food, how it's created, from where, etc. I think an informed person can make better decisions about their food. We don't all have farms or ranches either so people don't learn some of the important food info that was learned in the past. So I hope you enjoy it and aren't disgusted by some animal info along with our food info. After all, milk does come from a cow, goat, sheep, etc.