Total milk production for the United States was 8.3bn litres in May, 1.8% more than May 2016. That’s eight times more milk than what Ireland produced in May.

Average production per cow stood at 29l/day.

Cow numbers are also increasing. US Department of Agriculture figures also show that there were 9.39m head of dairy cows on farms in May, an additional 71,000 head more than May 2016. This is also a 2,000 head increase on April this year.

Production by state

New York State, the third largest milk producing state, was up by 2.3% in May with cow numbers climbing by 4,000, Idaho was down by 0.2% even though cow numbers were also up by 4,000. Texas, which is surging into the number 54 spot, was up by a whopping 14.7% from last year with cow numbers increasing by 43,000. Texas also reported the biggest milk production of any of the 23 major milk producing states.

Colorado was up by 7.3% with 10,000 extra cows. New Mexico, production increased by 6.9% with cow numbers up by 18,000.

On the other hand, the biggest percentage decrease came out of the northwest, with Oregon down by 3.5% and Washington, down by 1.4%. Cow numbers in these two states are down by 5,000 in total.

California reported a 1.1% decline in milk production in May, and cow numbers in the Golden State were 9,000 lower. Wisconsin, which had been increasing milk production for many months, actually declined its production by 0.7% in May, although cow numbers are reportedly steady at 1.279 million.

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