While the September USDA Milk output report indicated a 0.2% decrease from the previous year and a third straight month of decreased output, it also revealed a reduction in cow numbers, with 36,000 less head than last year and 6,000 fewer than last month.
The major news from yesterday’s report, according to National All-Jersey, was that August output was lowered down by 119 million lbs., or 0.6%, from last month’s preliminary estimate.
Southwest Slump
Cow populations in the Southwest fell dramatically, with California leading the way with 9,000 fewer head, resulting in a 60 million pound loss. In New Mexico, there were 19,000 fewer cows and 40 million less pounds.
According to Phil Plourd, president of Ever.Ag Insights, there are no major shocks in this research.
“We suspect we will see similar performance over the next few months — somewhere between a little less than last year and a little more than last year,” he said. “The Southwest, in my opinion, is the area to watch.” If we don’t see progress there, things will be fascinating from the standpoint of dairy product manufacture.
Wisconsin, on the other hand, produced 30 million more pounds while using 1,000 fewer cows. While Michigan added 11,000 more cows, New York added 5,000 more cows. South Dakota was the major winner, producing 21 million more pounds with 12,000 more cows.
According to Evan Grong, sales manager for Valley Queen, development in the I-29 corridor will be slower in 2023 and 2024 because there are no present plans for extra capacity.
“However, due to our expansion project, Valley Queen expects approximately 25,000 additional cows will be added in 2025 and 2026.”
According to Grong, three major criteria draw manufacturers to South Dakota.
“We attribute the current and projected growth in the I-29 region primarily to access to feed production, abundant groundwater and dairy processing investments,” he goes on to say.
