Milk production totals continue to climb as they have each month this year.  USDA reports that for the 23 major dairy states, total output is up 2.8% for the month of May over the same month in 2005.  Production of 14.7 billion pounds is also 3.5% above the April 2006 figure.

California continues to be the largest volume producer in the country, putting 3.3 billion pounds in the tank.  New Mexico also continues to be the fastest growing dairy state, with production up 16.1% over 2005 at 705 million pounds.

Cow numbers are the primary driving factor in these production pluses – 8.26 million head are now in production, up 128,000 over last year and 19,000 head over last month.