Wisconsin Ag Connection - State Milk Production Rises for Second Time in 2020

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State Milk Production Rises for Second Time in 2020
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 10/21/2020

For only the second time since the beginning of the year, Wisconsin dairy cows were able to produce more milk during September when compared to a year earlier. The USDA reports that output in America's Dairyland totaled 2.51 billion pounds during the month--up a fractional 0.7 percent from last September, but lower than the 2.62 billion made in August 2020 (which had more days on the calendar).

Nationally, 17.2 billion pounds of milk was produced in the 24 major dairy states for the month. That was a 2.4 percent increase from 2019, but lower than the previous month's 17.8 billion.

California continues to have the highest total production with about 3.31 billion pounds. South Dakota had the greatest percent-increase in output as that state produced 264 million pounds of milk--about 12.3 percent more from the same period last year. Sixteen of the top 24 states had higher year-to-year production last month.

Meanwhile, the number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major states was 8.85 million head, 46,000 head more than September 2019, and 6,000 more August 2020. The average number of milk cows on Wisconsin farms for the month was 1.26 million head, down 1,000 head from last month, and 10,000 fewer than last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,005 pounds, which was 30 pounds per cow more than last year's figures.

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