Monthly Milk Production

Released April 19: March 2012 milk production in the 23 states for which USDA reports monthly was 16.5 billion pounds, up 4.3 percent from March 2011. February revised production at 15.1 billion pounds, was up 8.2 percent from February 2011. The February revision represented a decrease of 13 million pounds or 0.1 percent from last month's preliminary production estimate. Adjusting February production for the additional day due to leap year causes February revised production to be up 4.5 percent on a per day basis.

Change in 23 selected states when comparing March's milk production with a year ago: Arizona up 6.6 percent; California up 6.2 percent; Colorado up 7.1 percent; Florida up 0.5 percent; Idaho up 3.3 percent; Illinois up 5.4 percent; Indiana up 5.2 percent; Iowa up 1.8 percent; Kansas up 3.1 percent; Michigan up 7.2 percent; Minnesota up 2.1 percent; Missouri up 1.6 percent; New Mexico up 5.3 percent; New York up 3.1 percent; Ohio up 3.4 percent; Oregon up 3.4 percent; Pennsylvania down 0.6 percent; Texas up 5.7 percent; Utah up 7.8 percent; Vermont unchanged; Virginia up 1.9 percent; Washington up 4.5 percent; Wisconsin up 4.2 percent.

Production per cow in the 23 major states averaged 1,931 pounds for March, 59 pounds above last year.

The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.52 million head. This is 94,000 head more than March 2011, and 9,000 head more than February 2012.

Note: The annual production of milk for the U.S. during 2011 was 196 billion pounds, 1.8 percent above 2010. The average number of milk cows in the U.S. last year was 9.19 million head, up 0.8 percent from 2010. Production per cow averaged 21,345 pounds for 2011. That's up 197 pounds from 2010.

Milk production data for 23 states from USDA is released around the 18th of the month following the month for which the information applies. At the same time the current production figures are released, updated data for the previous month's milk production is released. This graph reflects the updated information.

The 23 states for which the USDA reports milk production are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.