News

U.S. milk production slightly higher in April

April U.S. milk production was three-tenths of a percent higher than a year ago.  USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service says production was at 19.2 billion pounds of milk.  The 24 major milk-producing states had production rise half a percent, accounting for 18.4 billion pounds of milk in April.

USDA also revised the March production figures to 19 billion pounds, a tenth of a percent more than originally estimated.

Production per cow was up one pound compared to a year ago at 2,037 pounds.  The herd size is also growing, as the number of milk cows on farms last month was 9.43 million head, 26 thousand more cows than in April of 2022.

Milk production rose in Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.  Production went down in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, and New Mexico.

Michigan continues to lead in the milk-per-cow category with 2,380 pounds per cow, 25 more pounds per cow than a year ago.