Title
Changing Market Structure of the Minnesota Dairy Manufacturing Industry
Publisher
Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
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.
Suggested Citation
Gruebela, James W.; Koller, E. Fred.
(1969).
Changing Market Structure of the Minnesota Dairy Manufacturing Industry.
Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/139382.