The June 2024 USDA Milk Production report highlighted a noticeable year-over-year decline of 0.7% across the 24 major States during May. This comes on the heels of a revised April production report which showed production at 18.3 billion lbs., marking a 0.4% decrease from April 2023.
When diving deeper into the data, it’s clear that the average milk production per cow in these states stood at 2,122 lbs. for May. This metric provides a glimpse into the efficiency and output of dairy farming operations across the country.
The total number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was recorded at 8.89 million head.
Phil Plourd, president of Ever.Ag Insights, shared his expert opinion on the data. According to Plourd, there were no significant surprises in the report.
“Cow numbers are still down by 68,000 head year-over-year so it’s going to be hard to push milk volumes into positive territory anytime soon. At the same time, on paper, we are finally looking at some better prospective margins,” he says.
Indeed, the 12-month forward looking Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) calculation was at close to $12 per cwt. last week, the highest since July 2022. Plourd adds, “Solids output continues to outpace overall milk production changes by a healthy margin. So, cheese plants are not necessarily struggling as much to find milk as the raw national production data suggests, especially in the Midwest.”
Looking at specific states, Florida and South Dakota experienced significant growth year-over-year. Florida was up by 15.1% and South Dakota saw a 12.6% increase. Conversely, New Mexico faced the most considerable decline, with a 17.3% decrease compared to 2023.
