U.S. Milk Production Down Slightly During September

By CnAgri2012-10-22 19:59:51 Print

Milk production in the 23 major states during September totaled 14.7 billion pounds, down 0.5 percent from September 2011.

California continues to have the highest total production with about 3.18 billion pounds, though that state's monthly production was down. Colorado had the highest percent-increase for the month as that state put out 5.2 percent more milk than last year at 244 million pounds.

Production per cow nationally averaged 1,732 pounds for September, 10 pounds below September 2011.

The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major states was 8.47 million head, 5,000 head more than September 2011, but 25,000 head less than August 2012.

Meanwhile, national milk output during the third quarter totaled 48.7 billion pounds, up 0.1 percent from the same three months last year. The average number of milk cows in the U.S. during the quarter was 9.22 million head, 15,000 head more than the same period in 2011.