Higher milk prices and lower feed prices drive US milk production up in 2016

Milk production in the 23 major milk producing States during December totaled 16.8 billion pounds, up 2.4% from December 2015, the latest figures from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show.

Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,931 pounds for December, 35 pounds above December 2015.

The number of dairy cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.69m head, 53,000 head more than December 2015, and 10,000 head more than November 2016.

Overall, milk production in the US last year increased 1.9% on 2015 levels

Milk production in the United States during the October – December quarter totalled 52.5 billion pounds, up 2.4% from the October – December quarter last year.

The USDA has attributed higher milk prices, lower feed prices, lower cull cow prices, and attenuation of the drought in parts of California and other western areas to the increase in milk production.

For California (the State with the highest milk production), figures show that October was the first month since November 2014 with a year-over-year increase in milk production.

While the drought has become less severe parts of California, some eastern areas of the US have recently experienced drought, which could possibly limit the increase in US milk production to some extent.

The US milk production forecast for 2017 is 216.8 billion pounds, a reduction of 0.2 billion pounds on 2016.