Michigan has nearly 1,500 dairy farm families who care for over 428,000 cows. The average dairy herd in Michigan has 300 cows. Just like businesses grow to support more families, herd sizes increase to allow the next generation to continue farming. 97% of Michigan dairy farms are family owned, many by multiple generations of the same family. In 2017, Michigan ranked 5th place in milk production in the U.S. Dairy cows in Michigan produced 11.2 billion pounds of milk.