Milk production in the 23 major dairy production states in America totalled 7.4bn litres in October, a 0.1% increase from October 2014.

The growth in milk production has slowed when compared with September. In September 2015, the same 23 dairy production states produced 7.2bn litres of milk, which was a 0.5% increase on September 2014. The figures were released by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The easing in production in the US has given hope that there will be less milk on the market as the world deals with a major oversupply.

The number of cows on farms in the 23 states in America for October stood at 8.6m head. This is 38,000 more than October 2014 but 1,000 less than in September 2015. Average production per cow in America was 867 litres in October, which was three litres ahead of October 2014.

Ireland’s total anticipated milk pool for 2015 is expected to be in the region of 6.5bn litres, a 15% increase on 2014.