The Northeast and the Midwest have four of the five largest states in dairy cow numbers Wisconsin, New York, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. These states are major contributors to the supply of formula-fed veal. At the beginning of 1989, the dairy cow herd totaled 10.2 million head, less than half its size in 1955. Commercial calf slaughter was 7.5 million in 1955,5.2 million in 1975, and 2.2 million in 1989. These data clearly indicate the declining numbers of dairy calves available for slaughter or for further feeding.
Most consumers consider veal to be a high priced, gourmet-type meat.
By 1989 per-capita consumption of veal had dropped to 1.2 pounds and amounted to 0.9 percent of total red meat consumption. Substantial price increases since 1987 suggest even higher gross receipts in 1988 and 1989. Dairy farmers are the initial beneficiaries of the formula-fed veal industry. The veal feed manufacturing sector, located primarily in the Northeast and Midwest, annually produces around 250,000 tons of special feeds for formula-fed veal growers. The survey also provided data for estimating receipts at the packer-processor level.