In 1987, 202,068 farms produced about 144 billion pounds of milk, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture; by 2017, just 40,219 farms made 215 billion pounds of milk.

ARLINGTON — A robot helps feed Nick Van Dam’s dairy cows. The red-and-white automatic feed pusher moves along the feeding alley at Van Dam’s dairy, a nearly 200-acre farm in an urban growth ...

Fay Benson, who advises small-dairy farmers in the Southern Tier, first encountered robotic milking machines in 2009 on an Allegany County organic dairy that pastured its cows.

Wisconsin lost 500 dairy farms in 2017, and about 150 have quit milking cows so far this year, putting the total number of milk-cow herds at around 7,600 — down 20% from five years ago.

Farmer plans small-scale ‘micro dairy ... is using a $75,000 no-interest loan from the Impact Idaho Fund on a milking barn, processing parlor, equipment, additional animals and certification.