According to an announcement from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, looking at the latest information from the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service, last year was a good year for the dairy industry.

Wisconsin’s dairy business recorded a record year on many fronts in 2005. Preliminary estimates show Wisconsin’s milk production grew to the 22.8 billion pound level. For the first time in seven years, Wisconsin’s milk production growth rate surpassed that of California. According to the USDA, Wisconsin marked a 3.5% increase, compared with California’s 3.0%. This substantial increase of 779 million pounds is the highest increase for Wisconsin in 20 years.

What’s more, Wisconsin ended 2005 with 3,000 more cows than were recorded in December 2004. Cow numbers in Wisconsin came in at 1.239 million head. According to the Wisconsin Ag Statistics Service, it has been 16 years since Wisconsin ended the year with more cows than the previous year.