Increase in US milk production turns out to be an incident

The American milk supply turned out to be larger year-on-year in February, but that was mainly due to the leap year. In March, the supply figures show a decrease again, which was already visible in January.

American dairy farmers in the 24 largest dairy states produced 8.52 million tons of milk last month, according to USDA data. This is a decrease of 0.9% compared to the same month last year. It is noteworthy that in California and Wisconsin, the two largest dairy states, a slight increase was visible. In Texas, on the other hand, production is down by 5%. Dairy farmers there are struggling with ongoing drought.

Fewer cows
The lower milk production is due to a decreasing number of cows. With 9.33 million animals, the US had 71,000 fewer dairy cows in March than a year earlier. In addition, milk production per cow is increasing less rapidly than previously thought.

Wouter Baan

Wouter Baan is the editor-in-chief of Farmerbusiness and a market specialist in dairy, pork, and meat at DCA Market Intelligence. He also tracks developments within the agribusiness sector and conducts interviews with CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@farmerbusiness.com