News

U.S. milk production up again

The latest USDA report says milk production continues to go up. 

The National Ag Statistics Service says production in the 24 major dairy states totaled 17.4 billion pounds in February, which is 2.4% higher than February of 2023. Total U.S. production was 18.1 billion pounds in February.  

The one caveat to the new February figures is because of the leap year. USDA says adjusting production for the additional day in February shows production was actually down one percent on a per-day basis. 

Production per cow in those 24 states averaged 1,955 pounds in February, 58 pounds more than a year ago.  

The number of milk cows was 9.33 million head, or 89 thousand fewer than a year ago, but 10 thousand head more than January. 

There were no surprises in the other dairy categories. California still makes the most milk with 3.36 billion pounds in February, followed by Wisconsin with 2.55 billion pounds. Texas, Idaho, and New York round out the top five production states. Michigan remains the state with the most milk-per-cow, averaging 2,320 pounds per cow.