The latest milk production report caused a stir because it involved Leap Year.
Milk production in Wisconsin during February totaled 2.56 billion pounds, up 4 percent from the previous February, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. However, adjusting production for the additional day due to the leap year causes February milk production to be up 1 percent on a per-day basis.
Milk production in the 24 major milk-producing states during February totaled 17.4 billion pounds, up 2.4 percent from February. However, adjusting production for the additional day due to Leap Year causes February milk production to be down 1.1 percent on a per-day basis.
Ever.Ag dairy analyst Matt Tranel says: “It was a bit larger of a decline than what most of the industry analysts had estimated.”
The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major states was 8.88 million head, 8,000 head more than January 2024, but still 61,000 head less than last year.
“It’s something that we’ll need to continue to monitor as production continues to wane,” Tranel says of cow numbers. “So far, inventories have stayed strong, but if demand picks up, declining milk production is a big story.”
Meanwhile, the milk and the cows are moving around. Tranel says he’s seen milk moving from the mid-East to the Southeast part of the country. Closer to the Midwest, Kansas is increasing processing capacity at the same time the state is losing milk production.
“It really makes you wonder what’s going to happen there and where the milk is going to come from,” Tranel says. “That’s a big plant that’s coming online. That’s 8 million pounds a day in production.”
