January-March Milk Production up 1.5 Percent

Milk production in the United States during the January – March quarter totaled 54.4 billion pounds, up 1.5 percent from the January – March quarter last year.

The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.41 million head, 9,000 head more than the October – December quarter, and 38,000 head more than the same period last year.

23 Major Dairy State: March Milk Production up 1.5 Percent

Milk production in the 23 major states during March totaled 17.8 billion pounds, up 1.5 percent from March 2017. February revised production at 15.9 billion pounds, was up 1.8 percent from February 2017. The February revision represented a decrease of 12 million pounds or 0.1 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate.

Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 2,038 pounds for March, 22 pounds above March 2017. This is the highest production per cow for the month of March since the 23 State series began in 2003.

The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.74 million head, 29,000 head more than March 2017, but 2,000 head less than February 2018.