Farmers are just built different.
It’s apparent walking through Wall-Stone Holsteins farm near DeSoto with Dr. Anne Marie Elwing, farmer and veterinarian by trade. Just four weeks out from a double knee replacement, Elwing bends down to pick up any small scrap of paper or plastic that shouldn’t be there, new knees and all. It’s a silent sign of the pride she has in the property, where, along with groundskeeper, she serves as market analyst, bookkeeper, chief cow-whisperer, communicator, and, of course, veterinarian, including herd health, ultrasound, and artificial insemination for 1,500 dairy cows.
“We milk 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” she says.
Elwing holds up both hands, revealing more battle scars—over the decades, almost every finger has been broken, at least once, from wrangling large animals who don’t always cooperate.
“Facilities are better. Management is better. Technology has helped reduce some of the risk in handling large animals,” Dr. Elwing said. “It’s a lot different today than it used to be.”
Industry Innovation
Wisconsin dairy is changing rapidly. There are both challenges—and reasons for optimism—in an industry becoming more productive, technologically advanced, and dependent on the electric grid. Always seeking efficiencies, from energy to artificial intelligence, Elwing is steering this historic farm to the forefront of change.
Wall-Stone Holsteins, located in Vernon Electric Cooperative territory, has roots reaching back to the late 1800s and is linked to Gundersen Hospital (now Emplify). The property was originally owned by Dr. Christian Christensen, who along with Dr. Adolf Gundersen, launched the original Lutheran hospital. Nurses and other staff, mostly immigrants from Norway, lived and worked the farm while they trained, long before traditional college was an option.
After the depression, the hospital survived, but the farm did not. When the Walleser family took it over in 1961, it was in disrepair. (Dr. Elwing served as the farm’s vet before marrying Kevin Walleser, also a prominent agricultural leader.)
Today, it is a beacon of innovation, an example of the strides taken to survive in an industry that so many did not. Those driving down Highway 82 east of Red Mound are often surprised to see a literal cow carousel: a 50-stall rotary milking parlor that rotates 360 degrees.
“The cows love it,” Elwing says. “They can’t get on it fast enough.”
But the most remarkable part may be what you can’t see from the outside. From individual ear tags, Elwing monitors a multitude of factors relating to the cow’s health. Artificial intelligence alerts to trends that may signal illness, or alert to activity levels that indicate reproduction time is near.
In the milking parlor, technology recognizes individual animals and can adjust the milking process based on each cow’s milk flow.
Technology also monitors ventilation, and variable-frequency drives control motors, to cut down on energy costs. Water from the milking parlor is captured, cleaned, and reused to save on costs. Even milk transportation is optimized with technology designed to ensure tankers leave the farm full.
“When we’re transporting milk, we’re transporting 100% of it,” Elwing said. “No wasted space.”
Elwing not only embraces innovation and change, she seeks it out.
“It’s what you have to do if you want to survive,” she said.
State of the Industry
This summer, Wisconsin crossed a threshold. As of August 1, the state had 4,991 licensed dairy herds, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service—the first time the number has fallen below 5,000. That’s down from 5,222 last year, and 5,470 in 2024.
The number tells a sobering story about consolidation and the loss of dairy farms that were once fixtures of nearly every Wisconsin rural community.
But it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Wisconsin entered 2026 with approximately 1.285 million dairy cows, and those cows are extraordinarily productive. In 2025, Wisconsin cows produced an average of 25,599 pounds of milk per head, contributing to nearly 32.6 billion pounds of milk valued at approximately $6.8 billion.
In other words, Wisconsin has far fewer dairy farms, but it remains a dairy powerhouse.
1. Transparency is intentional at Wall-Stone Holsteins, right down to the windows and open-air doors. “We want people to be able to see what we are doing,” said Dr. Elwing. 2. Technology allows for a real-time data evaluation from each cow during milking. 3. Wall-Stone sells its milk to a large dairy cooperative, where it becomes yogurt, cheese, butter, and protein products. 4. Video technology allows Dr. Elwing to monitor the behavior and activities of the cows.
Power of Protein
While recovering from knee surgery, Dr. Elwing says she got into the habit of grabbing a protein drink, which is fueled by dairy, to help build her body back strong. And she’s not the only one.
Corey Geiger, lead economist for dairy production and processing in CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange research division, told Wisconsin electric cooperative leaders gathered at the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association’s Power & Policy Summit in Eau Claire in August that the dairy industry is in the midst of a major transformation.
“Milk components matter more than milk production,” Geiger said.
Between 2011 and 2025, overall milk production increased 18.4%, according to data presented by Geiger, while protein increased 27.7% and butterfat 34.6%.
Geiger reported that consumers are increasingly reaching for yogurt, cottage cheese, value-added milk, and high-protein nutritional beverages. In the 52 weeks ending May 31, cottage cheese volume increased 12.1%, nutritional beverages 8.9%, yogurt 7.2%, and cream and creamer 7.1%.
But the most dramatic example is the protein shake.
Sales of ready-to-drink protein dairy shakes and nutritional beverages grew from $4.7 billion in 2021 to $8.1 billion in 2025—a 71% increase in four years.
“Dairy is just such a winner in all of this,” Elwing said. “It is very exciting because the products are just crazy. They keep coming out with more and more things that we offer.”
Dairy consumption has trended higher over the past half century, and U.S. cheese consumption has more than doubled since the early 1980s. Exports have also become increasingly important: In 1995, the United States exported just 2% to 3% of its milk supply. By 2025, that figure had reached 17%.
That demand is driving investment. Geiger estimates $13 billion in new or recently completed U.S. dairy-processing projects through 2028, a generational investment in processing capacity.
All About Electricity
Even the barn lighting at Wall-Stone is a conscious choice, simulated to mimic conditions best suited for healthy and productive cows.
Dr. Elwing says the price of power is at the core of every decision they make when it comes to new technology, infrastructure, and every major investment.
“If we’re going to pay for this, there’s a cost to the production, and electricity is always a part of it,” she said.
Wall-Stone’s electric bill runs roughly $16,000 to $18,000 a month, but that could change. Elwing said they are participating in a study. She couldn’t say much about it, except that she believes it could lead to significant reductions in the amount of electricity needed for dairy barn ventilation.
“I think it will revolutionize the way we look at airflow and power needs and reduction of power usage on a dairy,” she said.
For electric cooperatives, that matters. Large agricultural loads can place significant demand on the distribution system, particularly during periods of extreme heat and cold when residential demand is also high.
During periods of peak electric demand, while people are coming home from work and firing up the air conditioner or furnace, the dairy switches to an on-site generator. The cows still get milked at the farm, and for everyone else, the lights still come on.
“It’s important that they [the cows]have the comfort during those really hot or cold days,” Elwing said.
Elwing said Vernon Electric has been a strong partner.
“They’re very responsive,” she said. “I’m very grateful to them.”
Challenges Remain
One thing that has not changed is the lack of control farmers have when it comes to milk prices, which are driven by a global market.
“We don’t ask for a price, and that’s what we get,” Dr. Elwing explains.
Milk prices can respond to events half a world away, and currently, they are low. Meanwhile, farmers must manage fertilizer, fuel, and feed costs, not to mention Mother Nature.
“You’re always fighting that rocky road of what’s going to happen today, what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Elwing said.
The Next Generation
For all the technology surrounding her, Elwing still believes there is something about being a good dairy farmer that a computer can’t easily replicate.
Her twin sons are both University of Wisconsin–Madison graduates. Emil became a veterinarian and researcher. The other, William, returned to Wall-Stone, where he works with agronomy, machinery, and other aspects of the operation.
Elwing says William recently told her that, someday, he hopes to hand off some of those responsibilities so he can spend more time with the animals.
“He said, ‘I really like the cows better than I like the machinery,’” she recalled.
That matters to a veterinarian who has spent a lifetime building an animal-based business.
Mindful practices with a focus on sustainability and smart technology keep this third-generation farm thriving. The 50-stall rotary milking parlor is able to milk 300 cows per hour. During peak electric usage time, the farm shifts to a generator to relieve stress on the grid and help ensure reliable power is available for everyone.
Technology can identify changes in movement. AI can analyze thousands of data points. Cameras can show where cows are congregating. Sensors can detect signs that humans might miss.
But Elwing says there is still an instinct involved in understanding a cow—something generations of farm children learned growing up in the barn, which is much more rare than it used to be.
“You can tell when that person comes; they really want to be that cow person,” she said. “But it doesn’t always work out.”
In Wisconsin, the red barns and small herds that once defined America’s Dairyland are becoming less common.
But dairy itself is not disappearing.
It is experiencing an energy-based evolution.
The barns are smarter. The cows are more productive. The milk is becoming more valuable for its components. Consumers are finding new reasons to buy dairy. Processors are making generational investments. Farms are using artificial intelligence, automation, and increasingly sophisticated energy-management technology to control costs.
And on the electric cooperative lines running through rural Wisconsin, farms such as Wall-Stone are becoming some of the most technologically advanced businesses those systems serve. And Dr. Elwing is here for it.
“I love what I do,” she said. “I wouldn’t change any of it.”—Julie Lund