Dairy farms of this size are still common in the upper Midwest states and parts of New England. The number of cows is manageable in terms of being able to remember the individual characteristics of practically every cow. Many such dairies have tie stalls or stanchions and cows often have assigned stalls.
Dairymen know individual cows based on features such as three teats, kicker or hard milker.
This is possible with 50 cows and approximately 200 teats. A s dairies expand, tracking necessary information on individual cows becomes a challenge. It no longer is easy to remember peculiarities of individual cows and each day more information piles up but decisions still have to be made. Many failed expansion dairies can trace their demise to no program or inadequate programs to collect and manage the correct information for decision making. I n several areas of the US very large dairies have evolved and are now common place.