Milk production in the US for February 2016 increased 4.6% on the corresponding month in 2015, the latest figures from the US Department of Agriculture show.
Milk production in the 23 major States during February totalled 15.8 billion pounds.
However, production was adjusted for the additional day due to leap year which causes February milk production to be up 1% on a per day basis, the USDA said.
The figures show that production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,833lbs for February, 79lbs above February 2015.
This is the highest production per cow for the month of February since the 23 State series began in 2003.
There was an increase in the number of dairy cows on farms in the 23 major States to 8.63m head, up 8,000 head on February 2015.
Overall looking at the US, for February milk production totalled 16.9m pounds, which again reflects a 4.6% increase on February 2015.
The total number of dairy cows on US farms stood at 9.31m head in February 2016, up 4,000 on the corresponding month last year.
Meanwhile, milk production for the US in 2016 is forecast at 211.6 billion pounds, a decrease of 0.3 billion pounds from last month’s forecast, the latest USDA dairy outlook suggests.
The 2016 forecast for milk cows has also been raised to 9.305m head, 10,000 more than forecast last month.
