Rosedale Dairy is the largest dairy farm in Wisconsin, with 8.5K cows. Seen here are the two rotary milking parlors that are in operation 22 hours per day. The dairy is owned by Milk Source, a partnership owned by three former classmates from the University of Wisconsin who started in Kaukauna, WI, in 1995 with 600 cows and now own 4 dairies in Wisconsin and 2 in Michigan with a total of 30k cows. They also have a calf farm in Wrightstown/Greenleaf, WI, and a heifer (juvenile) farm in Kansas. All cows are conceived with artificial insemination using outside contractors (currently Genex and Select Sires). Rosedale produces 14-15 tanker loads of milk per day, with 100 cows per employee.
In 1945, there were 2.1 M dairy cows in Wisconsin and 50,000 dairies (avg. 30 cows each, milked by hand twice a day). Now, Wisconsin has 250 CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) totaling 300k cows, with a CAFO defined as over 700 cows. CAFOs are regulated to dispose of manure on 1.0 acres of cropland per 1000 lbs. of animals.
