March 20, 2020
The United States Department of Agriculture's February milk production report numbers look stunning, until you remember that this year is a Leap Year and February is the month we add an extra leap day to keep calendars from sliding out of whack.
Adjusted for the leap day means milk was up 1.7% both in the 24 major reporting states and across all states as well.
The bigger news, however, is that cow numbers continue to rebound. In the U.S., cow numbers were up an estimated 9,000 head over January (almost 1 percent) and up 18,000 head over last year (almost 2 percent).
State production numbers are skewed as well by Leap Year. Using 3.6% as the adjuster, the usual suspects are nevertheless again up in production. Most notable are Colorado, Idaho, Kansas and Texas. These states are up in cow numbers as well, with Texas milking 32,000 more head than a year ago.
Other top states are reporting milk cow declines: California, -3,000; Pennsylvania, -17,000, and Wisconsin, -10,000.
milkbusiness.com
