Wisconsin Ag Connection - Wisconsin Milk Production for 2012 Ends Strong in December

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Wisconsin Milk Production for 2012 Ends Strong in December
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 01/24/2013

State and national milk production totals for the 23 major dairy states in 2012 have closed on a high note. The latest numbers from the USDA show that 15.7 billion pounds of milk was produced--up 1.7 percent over December 2011, and above last's months production of 14.9 billion pounds.

For the fourth quarter of the year, U.S. milk production totaled 49.1 billion pounds, up 0.9 percent from the same three months of 2011.

Wisconsin's output totaled 2.34 billion pounds of milk in December--up 5.5 percent above last year, and more than than November's 2.19 billion pounds.

California continues to have the highest total production with about 3.41 billion pounds, though that state's production was down from last year. Kansas had the highest percent-increase for the month as that state put out 10 percent more milk than last year at 241 million pounds.

Meanwhile, the number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major states was 8.49 million head, 5,000 head more than December 2011, and 16,000 head more than November. Wisconsin was milking about 1.27 million head of dairy cattle during the month, with total production averaging 1,845 pounds per cow for the month, which was about 90 pounds more than last year's average for December. The national per-cow average was up by 30 pounds at 1,848 pounds per animal.

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