Milk production is down .7 percent according to yesterday’s USDA report.
Expectations, though, were for production to be down an entire percent. This decrease was the second least we have seen this year, with the previous report down only .4 percent. An ag dairy branch manager shares why we are seeing this decrease in production and what can be done to increase the number.
According to Robin Schmahl, “What we’re seeing is lower milk cow numbers; we’re seeing better milk production per cow. Farmers are doing a good job balancing rations with higher feed prices, and so we are seeing a continual increase in production per cow. Now, if we continue to grow some cow numbers slowly because heifer supply is tight-- replacements are tight-- if we see a slow increase on cow numbers, then we might see a little better milk production and could keep the potential for milk prices under wraps to some degree.”
Milk production in the top 24 dairy states alone came in at .6 percent less than May 2021.
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