"This one really, really hurts."

90 percent of Wisconsin milk goes into the cheese vat, creating high yields of whey – which is highly sought after in Canada along with butter, cream, and cheese. In 2025, 60 percent of all dairy exports from the United States to Canada were sourced from Wisconsin. But it’s a different story this year, thanks to the Canadian trade war. Pete Hardin and Bert Zipperer describe the effects on the Wisconsin dairy farmer, in this edition of “The Milkweed.” Photo by Paul Fiedler on Unsplash