Connecticut has 84 working dairy farms remaining, a significant decline from a few decades ago, state officials say.

And 95% of dairy farms in New York – which is the fifth largest dairy producing state – are family-owned, according to the Northeast Dairy Producer Association.

However, they sure seem ready to tell us how to run our farms.” New York is the nation’s fifth-largest milk producer, with around 3,000 individual dairy farms and more than 600,000 dairy cows.

State and local officials visited three multi-generational dairy farms in Berkshire and Hampshire County in recognition of National Dairy Month.

For dairy farms to expand they also need to grow more crops to help sustain the herd. These are some of the 2,900 cows on Bonna Terra Farms in Bloomfield, Ontario County.