Wisconsin dairy cows continued to produce more milk during the month of September than they did a year earlier. According to the USDA’s monthly milk production report, state output totaled 2.46 billion pounds last month, up nearly one percent from September 2016, and more than August’s 2.59 billion pounds (which had one extra day on the calendar).
Nationally, 16.2 billion pounds of milk was produced in the 23 major dairy states for the month, which was 1.2 percent more than in 2016, and more than the previous month’s 17 billion.
California continues to have the highest total production with about 3.01 billion pounds, but was one of just six states that had lower production compared to last year. Texas had the greatest increase in year-to-year output as that state produced 955 million pounds of milk in September, up 10 percent from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major states was 8.74 million head, 73,000 head more than September 2016, but 3,000 head less than August 2017. The average number of milk cows on Wisconsin farms for the month was 1.28 million head, down 1,000 from last month and unchanged from last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 1,925 pounds, up 15 pounds from last year’s figures.
Source: Wisconsin Ag Connection