Milk production in Iowa during March 2020 totaled 460 million pounds, up 1 percent from the previous March according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report. The average number of milk cows during March, at 218,000 head, was up 1,000 from last month but down 1,000 from last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,110 pounds, up 35 pounds from last March.
Milk production in the 24 major States during March totaled 18.3 billion pounds, up 2.4 percent from March 2019. February revised production at 17.0 billion pounds, was up 5.6 percent from February 2019. The February revision represented a decrease of 7 million pounds or less than 0.1 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate. Adjusting February production for the additional day due to leap year causes February revised production to be up 1.9 percent on a per day basis.
Production per cow in the 24 major States averaged 2,072 pounds for March, 34 pounds above March 2019.
The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was 8.85 million head, 64,000 head more than March 2019, and 5,000 head more than February 2020.
Milk production in the United States during the January – March quarter totaled 56.0 billion pounds, up 2.9 percent from the January – March quarter last year.
The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.37 million head, 27,000 head more than the October – December quarter, and 26,000 head more than the same period last year.