August Milk Production Down in Most States

By CnAgri2012-09-20 19:38:48 Print

Milk production in the 23 major states during August totaled 15.3 billion pounds, down 0.2 percent from August 2011. July revised production at 15.5 billion pounds, was up 0.7 percent from July 2011. The July revision represented a decrease of 24 million pounds or 0.2 percent from last month's preliminary production estimate.

Thirteen of the major milk producing states had higher production when compared with last August, nine had lower production, and one, Missouri, was unchanged. California had 10,000 more cows than last year, but milk per cow fell 6 percent resulting in a 6 percent drop in production. Production in New Mexico was down 3 percent, while Pennsylvania and Texas were both down 2 percent. On the other hand, Wisconsin and Michigan both had production increases of 5 percent over the previous year, and Minnesota had an increase of 3 percent.

Meanwhile, production per cow in the 23 major states averaged 1,803 pounds for August, 10 pounds below August 2011.

The number of milk cows on farms was 8.50 million head, 32,000 head more than August 2011, but 4,000 head less than July 2012.