Michigan is ranked 6th in milk production and 1st in production of milk per cow, producing an average of 26,000 pounds per cow or 3,000 gallons a year. This is especially interesting since each individual consumes an average of 23 pounds of ice cream each year, placing Michigan in 5th place for ice cream production. In total, Michigan has over 1,200 dairy farms which account for a total of over 424,00 cows which allows Michigan to produce 11.4 billion gallons of milk per year. In addition, milk producers in the U.S. produce an incredible 1.4 billion gallons of ice cream and related frozen treats each year. Out of the 1,200 Michigan dairy farms, 97% are family-owned, many of which have been owned for multiple generations. This contributes a significant and staggering $15.7 billion to our state economy.