Raising A Glass (Of Milk) To June Dairy Month

While every month could be considered dairy month in America’s Dairyland, June is officially National Dairy Month.

June Dairy Month began as National Milk Month in 1937 when a surplus of milk launched a marketing campaign to promote drinking milk. Wisconsin switched to celebrating all dairy products in 1940 following a proclamation from Gov. Julius P. Heil.

Wisconsin was already known as America’s Dairyland by then. We got that name in 1930, after nearly two decades as the nation’s largest dairy producer.

The nation’s first dairy school was created at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1890. It remains a destination for the latest dairy trends and technology, attracting students from around the world.

Wisconsin got its own dairy royalty in 1948 with the launch of Alice in Dairyland, a replacement for the short-lived Wisconsin Dairy Queen. Four Alice candidates drink bottles of milk in the above image from 1956. Selected each May, Alice begins her reign each year in June as Wisconsin’s agricultural ambassador (despite the name, she’s more than just dairy).