Milking the Plains

Movement of Large Dairy Operations Into Southwestern Kansas

Bibliographic Data

ID4491863
AuthorsLisa M B Harrington (0000-0001-6672-2143, Professor of geography at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506), Max Lu (0000-0001-6554-0364, Associate professor, emeritus of geography.), David E Kromm (Professor emeritus of geography.)
Year2010
Volume100
Issue4
Pages538-558
Publication date2010-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7428 • E-ISSN: 1931-0846
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1931-0846.2010.00057.x
PMID21132919
OpenAlexW2011570342
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited26

Western Kansas has an historical identification with cattle, with a focus on cattle ranching and more specifically since the 1950s, beef-cattle feedlots. Since the mid-1990s large dairy operations have moved into southwestern Kansas. Today more than twenty large dairies house more than 70,000 milk cows. These operate as confined feeding operations similar to beef-cattle feedlots. Regional advantages for the dairy industry include affordable land with wide-open space, local residents' cattle- and dairy-friendly attitudes, and other factors. Regional promoters have actively recruited dairies, and a dairy-business support system has emerged. The prospects for continued expansion of dairies in southwestern Kansas are unclear; despite the locational advantages and the possibility that the industry may continue to relocate here, as did the cattle-feeding industry several decades ago, further moves into the area may depend on continued resources availability and additional infrastructure development

Agricultural economics · Agricultural science · Beef Cattle · Biology · Business · Dairy cattle · Dairy industry · Economics · Geography · Livestock · Milking · Agricultural Innovations and Practices · Environmental Science · Forestry · Organic Food and Agriculture · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability