State Statistics
Georgia

2004 Dairy Statistics (Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service)
   Milk cows on farms: 84,000
   Average number of dairy farms licensed to sell milk: 330
   Annual average milk production per cow: 16,857 pounds
   Total milk produced: 1,416 million pounds

A 1997 Snapshot of "The Georgia Dairy Industry"
(Courtesy: UGA Animal & Dairy Science Annual Report, L. D. Guthrie)

The Georgia Dairy Industry has been in a growth mode from the end of the Dairy Termination Program (DTP) that ended in 1987 until 1995. Each year milk production increased over the previous year reaching a peak of 1.56 billion pounds of milk produced in 1994. Low milk prices along with high feed prices in 1995 and 1996 resulted in a dramatic turn down in herd numbers, cow numbers and milk production. Table 1 shows the changes in herd numbers since 1981.

Table 1. Dairy herd numbers 1981-1997.
Year	Number of Dairy Farms
1981	933
1985	869
1988	653
1991	618
1994	591
1997	474

Using the data in Table 1, it is observed that the decline in dairy farm numbers has been about 3.1 percent per year for the last 16 years. However, when you look at the changes for the past three years, the decline has averaged 6.6 percent. Cow numbers have not changed drastically since the end of the DTP in 1987 but milk production is approximately 250 million pounds more than in 1987.

Several factors are responsible for the down turn in the Georgia Dairy Industry since 1994. Some of these are average age of dairy farmers, other farming options, low milk prices, high feed prices, cost of renovation and expansion, availability and reliability of farm labor, high land prices and unstable market conditions. Georgia and the Southeast continue to be a large milk deficit region. Approximately 24 percent of the nations population live in the 10 Southeastern States but these same 10 states produce less than 9.5 percent of the nations milk supply.

Recently, construction of new fluid milk processing plants have greatly expanded the milk processing capacity in Georgia. The three new plants in the Atlanta area owned by Kroger, Publix and Dean Foods will require milk from about 75,000 cows to meet their daily fluid milk needs. This provides great opportunity for existing dairy farms and for new producers.

Change in Location of the Georgia Dairy Industry

Because of the influx of people moving into all of north Georgia, the traditional dairy areas of north Georgia has changed greatly. The map of Georgia shown in Figure 1, outlines the nine areas of the state where milk is produced.

Figure 1. Counties By Area Where Milk Is Produced

Data in Table 2 shows the distribution of dairy farms, cows, milk production, income and economic value by area of the state. Analyzing these data, it is seen that Area 1 and 2 accounts for 18.7 percent of the cows and 27.3 percent of the herds. Herds south of I-20 account for 81.3 percent of the cows and 72.7 percent of the herds. Also, more dramatic is the fact that 62 percent of the counties with dairy farms are located south of I-20. When Areas 6, 7, 8 and 9 (all south of Macon)are combined, these areas account for 33.7 percent of the counties, 24.3 percent of the herds, 40.6 percent of the cows and 43.5 percent of the milk production, income and economic value of the state's dairy industry. Average herd size for these 114 herds is 336 cows compared to 158 average herd sizes for all the other herds in the state. Further analysis of the data in Table 2 reveals that the average herd size for the 128 herds in Area 1 and 2 is 138 cows.

Table 2. Estimated numbers of dairy farms, cows, milk production, income and economic impact of dairying by regions in Georgia.
Area	Counties*	Dairy* Farms	Cows	Milk Production	Dollar Value (Millions)	Economic Value (Millions)
1	16	57	6,609	116.728	18.8	56.1
2	16	71	11,053	168.171	26.9	80.9
3	15	44	6,908	105.856	16.9	50.6
4	4	121	20,764	299.975	48.1	144.3
5	10	58	10,649	162.025	25.9	78.0
6	4	47	11,761	219.086	35.1	105.4
7	4	7	4,051	76.074	12.2	36.6
8	11	36	12,787	210.986	33.8	101.5
9	12	24	9,730	148.042	23.7	71.0
Total	92	469	94,312	1,506.943	241.2	724.6
*Summarized by Charles Murphy, Department of Agriculture Dairy Division, February 1997.

Data in Table 3 shows the distribution of dairy herds, cows, average herd size and percent of cows by area of the state. Looking at average herd size, it is very apparent that herd size increases dramatically from Northwest Georgia to South Georgia. Area 7 includes only four counties with 7 dairy farms. Three of these herds are larger than 1,000 cows and two have approximately 2,000 cows per herd.

In summary, the Georgia dairy industry has moved south. In fact, counties south of Macon account for only 24 percent of the herds and 43.5 percent of the milk production and income and approximately 104.8 million dollars with an economic value greater than 314.7 million dollars. This is an average of 10.2 million dollars per county for the 31 counties in the area south of Macon. Yes, the dairy industry is big business in Georgia and has tremendous potential for growth.

Contact Information:

Located in Athens: Rhodes Center for Animal & Dairy Science, 425 River Road, Athens, GA 30602-2771 Ph: (706) 542-2581

Ely, Lane O., Professor - laneely@arches.uga.edu
Gilson, Warren D., Associate Professor - wgilson@arches.uga.edu
Graves, William M., Associate Professor - wgraves@arches.uga.edu
Smith, James W., Professor - jimsmith@arches.uga.edu

Located at Coastal Plain Experiment Station, P.O. Box 748, Tifton, GA 31793-0748 Ph: (229) 386-3364

Bernard, John K., Associate Professor - bernard@tifton.cpes.peachnet.edu
Burtle, Gary, Associate Professor - fish@tifton.cpes.peachnet.edu
West, Joe W., Professor - jwest@tifton.cpes.peachnet.edu