Considerable attention has recently focused on the long-term future of dairying in Wisconsin and other Upper Midwestern states. Wisconsin milk production peaked at 25 billion pounds in 1988, and has followed a sideways-to-downward trend since then. Minnesota milk production has shown the same pattern, down about 1.5 billion pounds in 2000 from its peak of 11 billion pounds in 1983. In the meantime, milk production has increased dramatically in several western states, especially California, New Mexico, and Idaho. California removed Wisconsin’s crown as the leading milk producing state in 1993, and threatens to become the number one cheese producing state within a few years.