Milk production in the 24 major states during March totaled 18.8 billion pounds, down 0.9 percent from March 2023. February revised production, at 17.4 billion pounds, was up 2.9 percent from February 2023. The February revision represented an increase of about 82 million pounds, or 0.5 percent, from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Adjusting the February production for the additional day due to the leap year causes February’s revised production to be down 0.7 percent on a per-day basis. Production per cow in the major states averaged 2,115 pounds for March, three pounds below March 2023. The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major states was 8.88 million head, 71,000 less than in March 2023, and 7,000 head less than February 2024.
Milk production during the January-March quarter totaled 56.9 billion pounds, up 0.1 percent from 2023. The average number of milk cows during the quarter totaled 9.33 million head.