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US: Cow's milk production

This page contains:
  • two graphs showing monthly production of cow's Milk in US over the last three years;
  • a chart comparing data for the annual production of cow's milk in the US and price trends for farm-gate milk (converted into Euros) over a given time period;
  • two tables giving us an overview of annual production, expressed in both tonnes and pounds, over a given period.

Farm Indicators»

N.B.:

Milk production in the United States has increased significantly over the past 20 years. The US production structure has undergone significant changes from the 1990s to the present day, with a sharp decrease in the number of dairy cows and producers. On the contrary, the quantity produced per capita has grown significantly (up 60% compared to the early 1980s) thanks, in particular, to technological advances, genetic research and business management improvements.

The type of business has also changed: the number of small and medium-sized businesses has decreased significantly while the number of large companies (those with over 500 head of cattle) has grown, accounting for almost 50% of the country's total milk production.

The companies tend to be located in States where the conditions for dairy production are better: California, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, Michigan, Texas and Washington guarantee 71% of the entire national production.
The companies expand their production mainly in the Western US States, where there are four general factors that appeal to producers:
  • availability of land and water,
  • infrastructure,
  • a favourable climate,
  • optimised business management practices.
Together with best business management practices, the opportunity to use land that is far away from residential areas (due to low competition for land use) has significantly reduced farm-gate milk production costs, especially in California.
Production costs have been considerably lowered thanks to the following factors in particular:
  • the presence of major infrastructures (services, technical support, livestock assistance),
  • the enhancement of production efficiency (in-house production versus outsourcing),
  • the quality of animal feeds,
  • favourable federal legislation within these particular States,
  • tax incentives.
The market impact of competitive prices in western regions has also affected producers throughout the rest of the country.

(May 2010)
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USA: Milk Supply
MONTHLY MOVING AVERAGE
LAST 12 MONTHS LAST 6 MONTHS LAST 2 MONTHS
US: Cow's Milk Productions
Cow's Milk  (tons x 1000)
Month 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 ± % on
2019 		± % on
2018
January 6.625 7.263 8.024 8.019 8.228 8.360 8.442 8.555 +1,3% +2,3%
February 6.134 6.691 7.335 7.665 7.574 7.700 7.696 8.113 +5,4% +5,4%
March 6.893 7.533 8.203 8.346 8.509 8.613 8.548 8.788 +2,8% +2,0%
April 6.825 7.448 8.072 8.143 8.327 8.358 8.361 8.482(p) +1,4% +1,5%
May 7.120 7.730 8.359 8.442 8.599 8.674 8.645
June 6.842 7.419 7.939 8.062 8.198 8.292 8.267
July 6.794 7.460 8.012 8.120 8.287 8.315 8.335
August 6.755 7.305 7.893 8.021 8.182 8.277 8.286
September 6.465 7.053 7.536 7.701 7.771 7.891 7.981
October 6.627 7.219 7.769 7.961 8.058 8.107 8.226
November 6.441 7.037 7.567 7.768 7.831 7.861 7.941
December 6.736 7.330 7.910 8.098 8.199 8.242 8.330
Jan-Apr 26.477 28.935 31.634 32.173 32.638 33.031 33.047 33.939
% y-o-y ¹ +2,5% +9,3% +9,3% +1,7% +1,4% +1,2% +0,0% +2,7%
Total Year 80.255 87.488 94.619 96.346 97.762 98.688 99.057
% y-o-y ¹ +5,7% +9,0% +8,2% +1,8% +1,5% +0,9% +0,4%
Last Update: 21-05-2020
1) change from the same period of previous year , except for years 2005, 2010, 2015, where the change is from the same period 5 years ago
**: Adjusted for months of 30 days (Ex. The calculation of the production change of June compared to May is obtained by considering [June production] compared to [May production : 31 x 30])
(p) = provisional
Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service
  = Min Production in the last 5 years
  = Max Production in the last 5 years
US: Cow's Milk Productions
Cow's Milk * (Mln of pounds)
Month 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 ± % on
2019 		± % on
2018
January 14.606 16.013 17.690 17.679 18.140 18.431 18.612 18.860 +1,3% +2,3%
February 13.523 14.750 16.170 16.898 16.698 16.976 16.966 17.886 +5,4% +5,4%
March 15.197 16.607 18.085 18.399 18.758 18.988 18.845 19.375 +2,8% +2,0%
April 15.046 16.419 17.795 17.952 18.357 18.425 18.433 18.700(p) +1,4% +1,5%
May 15.696 17.042 18.428 18.612 18.958 19.122 19.058
June 15.083 16.356 17.503 17.773 18.073 18.280 18.225
July 14.977 16.447 17.663 17.902 18.270 18.331 18.375
August 14.891 16.105 17.400 17.684 18.037 18.247 18.267
September 14.253 15.550 16.614 16.977 17.131 17.396 17.595
October 14.609 15.914 17.128 17.550 17.765 17.872 18.135
November 14.199 15.514 16.683 17.126 17.265 17.330 17.506
December 14.851 16.160 17.438 17.853 18.075 18.170 18.365
Jan-Apr 58.372 63.789 69.740 70.928 71.953 72.820 72.856 74.821
% y-o-y ¹ +2,5% +9,3% +9,3% +1,7% +1,4% +1,2% +0,0% +2,7%
Total Year 176.931 192.877 208.597 212.405 215.527 217.568 218.382
% y-o-y ¹ +5,7% +9,0% +8,2% +1,8% +1,5% +0,9% +0,4%
Last Update: 21-05-2020
1) change from the same period of previous year , except for years 2005, 2010, 2015, where the change is from the same period 5 years ago
*: Conversion: 1 Kg = 2.2046 Pounds
**: Adjusted for months of 30 days (Ex. The calculation of the production change of June compared to May is obtained by considering [June production] compared to [May production : 31 x 30])
(p) = provisional
Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service
  = Min Production in the last 5 years
  = Max Production in the last 5 years
UK trade data for the period Jan - Mar 2020 are provisional