Milk production in the 23 major States during November totaled 16.2 billion pounds, up 1.1 percent from November 2016. October revised production, at 16.7 billion pounds, was up 1.3 percent from October 2016. The October revision represented a decrease of 27 million pounds or 0.2 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,861 pounds for November, 9 pounds above November 2016. This is the highest production per cow for the month of November since the 23 State series began in 2003. The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.73 million head, 57,000 head more than November 2016, but unchanged from October 2017.
California has the most dairy cattle with 1.7 million head followed by Wisconsin with 1.2 million head. Colorado remains the state with the most milk per cow at 2,135 pounds with Michigan close behind at 2,085 pounds per cow. Nationwide, there are 9-point-4 million dairy cattle, 53-thousand more than a year ago but equal to last month.
