Wisconsin Ag Connection - Wisconsin Milk Production Up Nearly Four Percent in October

Wisconsin Ag News Headlines

Wisconsin Milk Production Up Nearly Four Percent in October
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 11/19/2009

For the third consecutive month, September milk production numbers were lower across the country, while Wisconsin's was up compared to year-ago levels. The USDA announced that total output for the 23 major dairy states fell by 1.1 percent from 2008 to 14.3 billion pounds. That figure was higher, however, than last month's production of 13.9 billion--even with September having less days than August.

Wisconsin dairy farmers produced 2.1 billion pounds of milk in October--up 3.5 percent above last year, and higher than August's 2.08 billion pounds. California continues to have the highest total production with about 3.2 billion pounds. Indiana recorded the highest percent increase for the month as that state produced 282 million pounds of milk, 4.4 percent over year-ago totals.

The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major states was 8.32 million head, 196,000 head less than October 2008, and 22,000 head less than September 2009. Wisconsin was milking about 1.25 million head of dairy cattle during the month, with total production averaging 1,675 pounds per cow for the month--which was 20 pounds more than last year's average for September. The national per-cow average was up 21 pound at 1,721 pounds per animal.