Milk production expanded by 0.8% year-on-year during the month of August 2015.
In August there was 9.32 million cows estimated to be in milk. The number of cows in milk is unchanged from the previous two months, but 0.57% greater than the same time a year ago.
Productivity per cow decreased seasonally dropping 1.6% from the previous month. But compared with the previous August output was up 0.27%. Cow productivity levels for the 23 major milk producing states was the highest for the month of August. The 23 state series began in 2003.
The Midwest was responsible for the majority of the growth in milk output in August. The weather across the midwest has been favourable for milk production. Wisconsin contributed the largest growth in quantity terms with output up 113 million pounds or 4.8% on August 2014. Milk collections in Michigan increased 4.1%. Other areas to show strong growth in percentage terms were: Minnesota (+4.7%), New York (+2.5%), South Dakota (+13.3%), Colorado (+3.9%), and Iowa (+3.9%).
