Changing Market Structure of the Minnesota Dairy Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

The Minnesota dairy manufacturing industry has undergone many major organizational and operational changes in the last 25 years. One major change has been the shift toward fewer and larger plants. The number of plants manui:tcturing dairy products in Minnesota declined from 938 plants in 1938 to 36'1- plants in 1963, a 62 percent decrease. There also was a trend toward larger plant size. In 1938, 43.2 percent of the specialized butter plants received less than 200,000 pounds of butterfat and in 1963 only 11.2 percent of the plants received less than that amount. There were major technological changes in the Minnesota dairy manufacturing industry. These include clean-in-place systems, shift from can to bulk hauling, high-temperature-short-time pasteurization, and, recently, the continuous churn. Improved roads and trucks also are important developments. The development and adoption of new technology plays a major role in influencing the shift toward increased concentration in the state's dairy manufacturing industry.