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“It’s important for us to have healthy animals that produce a quality product.”

Dan Truttmann
Dairy Farmer

Name: Dan Truttmann
Location: New Glarus, Wisconsin
Years farming: I’ve been on this farm my whole life, aside from the four years spent at UW Madison getting a dairy science degree. It’s been 20 years since graduating college, and I’ve been either a partner or sole owner for the last 17 years.
My family: My wife, Shelly, and I have 3 children. Our daughter is 14 and our twin sons are 11. I work daily with my father, and my mother works on the farm seasonally. I also have one brother and one sister.
How I came to be a farmer: I grew up with a love of the animals and the land, and only briefly considered other occupations. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that this is where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do.
The best thing about being a farmer: I love being my own boss and the challenge of all of the different aspects of farming, from the animals to the grass and crops we grow, purchasing the inputs and pricing the output, and especially working with the people (family members, employees, consultants, salespeople and neighbors) that help make our farm and business a success.
My personal philosophy on farming: I work every day to strive for perfection. We do everything we can to produce the best quality product possible.

Dairy Production in Wisconsin and the United States

• Wisconsin’s diverse dairy industry has more organic and grass-based dairy farms than any other state.
• At 2.6 billion pounds produced, Wisconsin cheese production ranks second to none, accounting for more than 25 percent of U.S. cheese production, and more than 600 different varieties.
• Wisconsin is also first in specialty cheese production, with more than 45 percent of all specialty cheese produced in the U.S.
• Nearly 33 percent of the cheese produced from Wisconsin milk is mozzarella, while nearly 26 percent is cheddar.
• In 1841, cheesemaking history was made when the first cottage industry cheese factory in Wisconsin was founded.
• While many popular cheese varieties originated in Europe, innovative Wisconsin cheesemakers created original cheeses such as Brick and Colby.
• It takes 10 pounds of whole milk to make one pound of cheese.
• Approximately 32.4 percent of all milk in the U.S. is consumed as fluid milk, while 40 percent is made into cheese, 13.6 percent is made into butter, and the remaining 14 percent is made into products like ice cream and yogurt.
• The United States ranks seventh globally in per capita cheese consumption at 32.7 pounds per year. Greece is first at 82.2 pounds consumed per capita.

For more information about dairy farming in Wisconsin, please visit:  http://www.DairyDoingMore.org/

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