For only the fifth time since the beginning of the year, Wisconsin dairy cows were able to produce more milk during December when compared to the same time a year earlier. The USDA reports that output in America's Dairyland totaled 2.60 billion pounds during the month--up 2.6 percent from last December, and higher than the 2.48 billion made in November 2020 (which had less days on the calendar).
Nationally, 18.1 billion pounds of milk was produced in the 24 major dairy states for the month. That was a 3.2 percent increase from 2019, and more than the previous month's 17.2 billion.
California continues to have the highest total production with about 3.51 billion pounds. South Dakota had the greatest percent-increase in output as that state produced 273 million pounds of milk--about 11.9 percent more from the same period last year. Eighteen 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 8.92 million head, 107,000 head more than December 2019, and 12,000 greater than November 2020. The average number of milk cows on Wisconsin farms for the month was 1.26 million head--unchanged from last month, but down 2,000 from last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,070 pounds, which was 55 pounds per cow more than last year's figures.
Categories: Wisconsin, Livestock, Dairy Cattle