Milk production in Iowa during December 2020 totaled 466 million pounds, up 4% from the previous December 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 2,120 pounds, up 40 pounds from last December.
Milk production in the 24 major States during December totaled 18.1 billion pounds, up 3.2% from December 2019. November revised production, at 17.3 billion pounds, was up 3.5% from November 2019. The November revision represented an increase of 56 million pounds or 0.3% from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Production per cow in the 24 major States averaged 2,027 pounds for December, 40 pounds above December 2019.
The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was 8.92 million head, 107,000 head more than December 2019, and 12,000 head more than November 2020.
Milk production in the United States during the October – December quarter totaled 55.6 billion pounds, up 3.0% from the October – December quarter last year.
The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.43 million head, 59,000 head more than the July – September quarter, and 81,000 head more than the same period last year.