The USDA says milk production in the 24 major milk-producing states totaled 16.8 billion pounds in February. That?s down 1.3 percent from February of 2020. However, production was 2.3 percent above last year after adjusting for the leap year. January revised production was 18.4 billion pounds, up 2.6 percent from January of last year. The January revision represents an increase of 150 million pounds, or .8 percent, from last month?s preliminary production estimate.
The number of milk cows on farms across the 24 major dairy states was 8.94 million head, 88,000 more than February 2020, and 2,000 more head than January of this year. Total U.S. milk production hit 17.6 billion pounds, which was 1.5 percent lower than last year at the same time. However, production was up two percent from last year after adjusting for the leap year. Production per cow in the U.S. averaged 1,864 pounds for February, 44 pounds lower than last February.
California was the top state in February with more than 3.3 billion pounds of milk produced, followed by Wisconsin?s 2.4 billion pounds of milk.
