Indiana Milk and Dairy Fun Facts
September 23, 2010 By Jessica Mozo
• Indiana’s 2,000 dairy farms produce more than 393 million gallons of milk each year.
• The average Indiana dairy herd has 84 cows.
• A cow produces an average of 6.3 gallons of milk daily and 350,000 glasses of milk in a lifetime.
• Cows eat about 100 pounds of food every day and drink 50 gallons of water.
• To get the amount of calcium in an 8-ounce glass of milk, you’d have to eat one-fourth cup of broccoli, seven oranges or six slices of wheat bread.
• Farmers measure milk in pounds, not gallons.
• A cow will produce an average of 6.3 gallons of milk each day. That’s more than 2,300 gallons each year!
• U.S. dairy farms produce roughly 21 billion gallons of milk annually.
• The average American consumes almost 25 gallons of milk a year.
• June is official National Dairy Month.
• The greatest amount of milk produced in one year was 59,298 pounds by a Holstein cow named Robthom Sue Paddy.
• On a dairy farm, a farmer’s day begins and ends with milking the cows.
• Fresh milk will stay fresher longer if you add a pinch of salt to each quart.
• A cow is more valuable for its milk, cheese, butter and yogurt than for its beef.
• Home delivery of milk (i.e. the milkman) started in 1942 as a war conservation measure.
• More than 1,000 new dairy products are introduced each year.
For even more dairy farm facts, click here.
When my 2 sons were younger, we used to go through 6 to 8 gallons of milk a week! When summer rolled around, they would through 10 gallons a week!