Milk production in the 24 major U.S. states reached an impressive total of 18.5 billion pounds in June, marking a 3.4% increase compared to a year ago. This upward trend is not an isolated incident; May’s figures also showed significant growth with a revised production of 19.3 billion pounds, reflecting a 2.4% increase from the previous year. This revision indicates an upward adjustment of 136 million pounds, approximately 0.7%, from the preliminary estimates.
For June, production per cow averaged 2,045 pounds, a notable rise from the previous year, adding 33 pounds of milk per cow.
Although Phil Plourd, president of Ever.Ag Insights says that they expected to see comparatively strong performance in June, given weak comps from 2024 (-1.7%) and anecdotal reports of solid output in California.
“But +3.3% counts as a surprise,” he says. “At the same time, generally speaking, producers have been seeing decent margins and new capacity means plenty of interest in additional milk supply.”
A Growing Herd
This boost isn’t just in output per cow; the number of milk cows has also seen a rise. June reports show 9.03 million head of milk cows in the leading states, an increase of 146,000 compared to June 2024, and a slight rise from May 2025 by 3,000 head. The 50-state cow number growth totaled an increase of 146,000 head.
“The big deal for the months ahead is that we have a lot of cow power, with the milking herd up by 146,000 head year-over-year,” he says. “That means we will almost certainly have decent milk production growth over the next several months.”
Plourd notes that California’s year-over-year growth can be attributed to HPAI being in the rearview mirror, weak performance last year (-2.1%) and great weather this June all led to a “robust performance.”
State Leading the Way
Leading the last quarter’s growth were Kansas, South Dakota and Idaho, with significant year-over-year increases of 19%, 11.5% and 9.7%, respectively. These states exemplify the effectiveness of target-driven strategies in agricultural management and foresight in adopting advanced farming techniques.
Tom Peterson, executive director of South Dakota Dairy Producers, expressed his excitement over the rapid expansion of the state’s dairy industry.
“In the early 2000s, cow numbers in this state were fewer than 80,000 head,” he says. Much of that growth has taken place in the last five years, all with 150 permitted class A farms.
Rick Naerebout, CEO of Idaho Dairymen’s Association, Inc., notes that Idaho is up 5% if you average the data going back to Q4 of 2024.
“This report is looking at an increase over a bird flu month from last year,” he says. “Five percent is still a big number, and that is being driven by a temporary lifting of base programs (those all seem to be going back into place) and good economics. It doesn’t take much to encourage our dairymen to turn on milk.”
Stakeholders in the dairy industry share the enthusiasm for the growing cow numbers and milk production capacity. This robust trend of growth in the dairy sector is driving economic benefits across multiple states, with continuous improvements in cow management and production strategies as key drivers. The influx of processor investments (some 8 billion plus dollars) across the U.S. countryside underscores the high demand for this increased milk supply.
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