Milk production down 0.7 percent

(Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009)

Another bullish sign that the dairy economy is recovering: Milk production dropped for the second straight month in September — this time falling by 0.7 percent in the top 23 dairy states compared to the same month a year ago.

Although milk-per-cow was up, the number of milk cows in the 23 major dairy states was down — 8.34
million head, or 168,000 less than September 2008. Arizona showed the biggest decline, down 10.8 percent from a year ago. Colorado and California declined by 7.1 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, some of the Upper Midwest states showed an increase: Wisconsin, 5.2 percent; Minnesota, 3.9 percent and Michigan, 3.7 percent. Texas and Ohio increased production 4.9 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.

The decline in milk production, coupled with gains in the cheese price and class III milk futures price, suggest a recovery could be in the offing.