MNN - Mother Nature Network

Yogurt, cheese, ice cream — countless tasty treats can trace their roots to the common dairy cow. In fact, America needs 65,000 farms to satisfy its demand for milk-based products. Consider these udderly surprising stats about the dairy industry.

 

Number of dairy cows in the U.S.

 

Average number of miles milk travels from farm to grocery store

 

Profit in dollars that Nestlé makes each year as the world’s leading dairy company

 

Years required to convert a traditional dairy farm to certified organic

 

Percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions that come from livestock

 

Percentage of dairy products sold in the US that are certified organic

 

Average number of pounds of cheese that a French person eats in a year

 

Percentage of total U.S. cheese production that takes place in Wisconsin

 

Gallons of milk U.S. dairy farms produce each year

 

Year milk bottle was invented

 

Number of cloned cows in the U.S.

 

Average percentage US organic milk sales are growing each year

 

Number of “Got Milk” print ads since the campaign’s debut in 1995

 

Year first Dairy Queen opened 

 

Average number of pounds of cheese an American eats in a year 

 

Number of udder squirts needed to fill one milk pail

 

Percentage of U.S. dairy farms that produce half of the nation’s milk supply

 

This article originally appeared in Plenty in February 2008. This story was added to MNN.com in June 2009.

 

Copyright Environ Press 2008