Milk production in Iowa during December 2023 totaled 500 million pounds, up 1 percent 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 240,000 head, was 1,000 above last month and up 1,000 from December 2022. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,085 pounds, up 20 pounds from last December.
Milk production in the 24 major States during December totaled 18.1 billion pounds, down 0.1 percent from December 2022. November revised production, at 17.3 billion pounds, was down 0.6 percent from November 2022. The November revision represented a decrease of 14 million pounds or less than 0.1 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Production per cow in the 24 major States averaged 2,030 pounds for December, 1 pound above December 2022.
The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was 8.90 million head, 17,000 head less than December 2022, but unchanged from November 2023.
Milk production in the United States during the October – December quarter totaled 55.6 billion pounds, down 0.6 percent from the October – December quarter last year.
The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.36 million head, 16,000 head less than the July – September quarter, and 44,000 head less than the same period last year.
The complete report can be found on the USDA NASS website at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications.