Milk production in Iowa during December 2017 totaled 442 million pounds, up 17 million pounds from the previous month and up four percent from the December 2016 according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report. The average number of milk cows during December, at 220,000 head, was 1,000 more than last month and 5,000 more than last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,010 pounds, up 30 pounds from last December.
Milk production in the 23 major States during December totaled 17.0 billion pounds, up 1.2 percent from December 2016. November revised production at 16.2 billion pounds, was up 1.0 percent from November 2016. The November revision represented a decrease of 24 million pounds or 0.1 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,943 pounds for December, 11 pounds above December 2016. This is the highest production per cow for the month of December since the 23 State series began in 2003.
The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.74 million head, 54,000 head more than December 2016, and 3,000 head more than November 2017.
Milk production in the United States during the October – December quarter totaled 53.1 billion pounds, up 1.1 percent from the October – December quarter last year.
The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.40 million head, 3,000 head less than the July – September quarter, but 55,000 head more than the same period last year.