Celebrate Dairy Month in South Dakota

On a hot South Dakota summer day, nothing tastes much better than ice cream. As summer draws near South Dakota Corn encourages everyone to celebrate dairy month this June, recognizing our state’s producers by enjoying a glass of milk, slice of cheese, scoop of yogurt or even the occasional ice cream treat. After all, these tasty and nutritious products are all made possible by our hard-working dairy families.

South Dakota is home to 368 dairy producers with a total of 92,000 milk cows. Each cow produces an average of 8.2 gallons of milk per day and 2,381 gallons per year. South Dakota’s annual milk production totals over 230 million gallons.

According to the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, each dairy cow in the state has a $13,594 economic impact on the local economy. The dairy industry as a whole has an annual economic impact of more than $1.278 billion in South Dakota.

“A healthy dairy industry in South Dakota is important not just to our rural economy, but to every citizen of the state,” said Walt Bones, South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture. “Dairy farmers are an integral part of South Dakota agriculture and have a tremendous positive impact on our communities.”

South Dakota corn fed to South Dakota dairy cows produces value-added products, which are excellent sources of nutrition including 70% of consumers’ calcium needs as well as protein, vitamins and minerals.