We Got Milk!

Mild March weather apparently was just what our dairy cows wanted when it comes to milk production! Wisconsin’s dairy industry rocked it, producing 4% more milk this March than last!

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “America’s Dairyland” produced 2.72 BILLION pounds of milk in March.

The average number of Wisconsin milk cows during March, at 1.27 million head, was up 3,000 from last month and 7,000 more than March 2020. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,145 pounds, up 65 pounds from last March.

The trend was in place across most of the 24 major dairy producing states. USDA said overall, the group saw a 2% increase in March milk. Minnesota jumped 7.3%, Michigan was up 3.5% and Iowa saw a 2.6% increase in March milk. The number of milk cows on all dairy operations escalated to 8.95 million head, 93,000 head above March 2020.

South Dakota had the largest increase in March milk with a 13.4% gain. Florida experienced the biggest drop in March milk going down 7.3%.