Wisconsin is first in the nation in butter, total cheese and milk production.
Dairy farmers milk their cows at least twice a day, every day.
The dairy cow came to america with Christopher Columbus, and was then brought to Wisconsin by the early pioneers. Cows spend an average of six hours each day eating, and an additional eight hours ruminating or chewing their cud. Wisconsin produces more than 300 different varieties, types and styles of award-winning cheese. In 1859, Wisconsin manufactured 400,000 pounds of cheese. Wisconsin has been making cheese commercially since 1858, when John J. Smith started a cheese factory in Sheboygan Falls.