Many old families have been forced to sell up as milk prices were squeezed by supermarkets and big buyers.
But there's a sense that things might, at last, have turned a corner, as David Pritchard
Co-ordinator of UK Dairy Expo says: "There's a lot of dairy businesses in this area.
"It's important that that infrastructure is right and the milk are always talked about but at the moment it's on the up and it's quite positive within the industry."
More than 300 dairy cattle are being shown and sold over the next two days at the UK Dairy Expo at the Borderway Mart in Carlisle.
The dairy industry is worth tens of millions of pounds to the Border region.
And those that have survived the bad times are now looking to the future.
People like Ian Mallinson.
He farms at Armathwaite in Cumbria.
11 years ago he lost all his animals in the foot and mouth outbreak.
He said: "Farming you have to look with optimism because you wouldn't be doing it. That's the thing. It's a hobby as well as your living. It's your livelihood, that's it.
"You have to enjoy it or else you shouldn't be in farming."
Thousands of people are expected at the UK Dairy Expo.
