News

USDA says milk production dropped a little

The USDA says milk production was down a little in November.  Production in the 24 major dairy states totaled 17.3 billion pounds, down 0.5% from November of last year.  USDA also revised the October figures to show production down 0.6% this year compared to a year ago.

Production per cow averaged 1,948 in November, down three pounds from November 2022.  Michigan continues to have the highest average per cow production with 2,220 pounds per cow. 

The number of milk cows in the 24 major milk producing states is 8.9 million head, which is 26-thousand fewer than a year ago and nine thousand less than a month ago. California has the largest dairy herd with 1.71 million head, followed by Wisconsin with 1.27 million head.