Milk production in the 24 major dairy states during September totaled 17.5 billion pounds, up slightly from September 2022. August revised production, at 18.1 billion pounds, was 0.7 percent below August 2022. The August revision represented a decrease of 73 million pounds or 0.4 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Production per cow in the 24 major states averaged 1,960 pounds for September, three pounds above September 2022. The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major states was 8.91 million head, 16,000 head less than in September 2022 and 2,000 head less than August 2023. Milk production in the July through September quarter totaled 56.1 billion pounds, down 0.7 percent from the July through September quarter in 2022.
The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.38 million head, 43,000 head less than April through June 2023 quarter, and 33,000 head less than 2022.
