Did You Know?

The average dairy farm in Vermont has about 90 cows. The state's smallest operating dairy farm milks five cows. The largest Vermont dairy farm has over 800 cows.

Several dairy farms in Vermont are well over two hundred years old. The three oldest, continually operating dairy farms were started in the 1770's; the same time as the Revolutionary War!

Vermont farms produce 2.6 billion pounds of milk a year.

The average Vermont farm has 217 acres.

There are 162,000 cows living in Vermont.

The average Vermont cow produces 16,800 pounds of milk per year.

Holstein (Holstein-Freisian) cows are the black and white cows most frequently seen in Vermont. Originating in the Netherlands and northern Germany, breeders began to import Holsteins to the United States in the 1850s. Holsteins are the largest dairy cows in size, weighing about 1500 pounds. They give an average of 6.4 gallons or 55 pounds of milk per day.