The state of Wisconsin, famous for its cheese, lost 10 percent of its dairy farms in 2019, Dairy Herd Management reported on Thursday. The loss of 818 dairies was the largest decline in Wisconsin history.
Trouble for dairy farmers started in 2018, when Donald Trump engaged in a protracted trade war with China. In retaliation for increased tariffs from the United States, China placed tariffs on a number of U.S. agricultural exports.
As a result, exports of U.S. dairy to China dropped by more than 50 percent in 2019, according to CNBC. Continue reading.