Milk production numbers were up during the month of October. The USDA announced that total output for the 23 major dairy states rose 2.1 percent from 2005 to 13.7 billion pounds. That figure was also above last month’s production of 13.3 billion.
Wisconsin dairy farmers produced 1.91 billion pounds of milk–about seven-tenths of a percent more than last year, and higher than September’s 1.88 billion pounds. California continues to have the highest total production with about 3.22 billion pounds. Texas recorded the highest percent increase for the month as that state produced 561 million pounds, about 9.1 percent more than the same month in 2005.
The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.25 million head, 78,000 head more than October 2005, and 2,000 head more than September 2006. Wisconsin was milking about 1.24 million head of dairy cattle during the month, with annual total production averaging 1,535 pounds per cow–which was unchanged from last year’s average. The national per-cow average was 19 pounds higher at 1,656 pounds per animal.