Milk production in the 23 major states in the US during September rose by 1.5% compared to the same month last year.
The latest figures published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that milk production in the 23 major states totalled 16.4 billion pounds.
As well as this, production figures for August were revised to 17.2 billion pounds – representing a decrease of 10 million pounds or 0.1 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
This still represented an increase of 1.3% versus the corresponding month in 2017, the USDA explained.
Meanwhile, production per cow levels in the 23 major states reached record levels last month – averaging 1,880lb. This is the highest level reached for the month of September since the 23 state series began in 2003, the USDA added.
Meanwhile, the population of dairy cows in the 23 major states totalled 8.72 million head in September – this was 13,000 head less than September 2017 and 12,000 head less than August 2018.
In terms of milk production levels across the entire US during the third quarter of this year, an increase of 0.9% was recorded. A total of 54 billion pounds was produced, the latest figures show.
The average number of milk cows in the US during the July to September quarter was 9.38 million head, which was 27,000 head less than both the previous quarter and the same period last year
