The August Milk Production report highlighted the industry’s significant increase last month. According to the most recent USDA data, milk output in the United States is up 1.6% from August 2021. Nonetheless, cow numbers decreased by 11,000 head from the previous year, but rose by 8,000 head from July 2022.
According to the research, Texas led the way in year-over-year increase, increasing by 30,000 head from August 2021. South Dakota’s favourable cow growth trend continues, with an increase of 22,000 head. Iowa and Georgia also witnessed gains, with 13,000 and 11,000 more people added, respectively. The states with the greatest decrease in cow numbers were New Mexico and Michigan, which were down 24,000 and 15,000 head, respectively.
Phil Plourd, Ever.head Ag’s of market intelligence, said that the results exceeded his expectations.
“However, we were comparing against a rather poor result last year,” Plourd notes. “For example, cattle numbers fell 45,000 head between July and August last year, explaining how we narrowed the year-over-year disparity to barely 11,000 head in August.”
Plourd believes there is a fair likelihood that cow numbers will rise beyond year-ago levels when the next USDA data is released, considering we lost 33,000 cows from August to September last year.
“I believe it’s also fair to say that California had good weather for the most of August this year, which wasn’t the case last year,” he said. “The opposite was true in Wisconsin, where temperatures rose somewhat last month.”
Plourd claims that the figures had a significantly negative slant.
“We predict respectable growth in September, but not big rises anytime soon,” he adds.
The August milk production report showed that monthly output in the United States and major dairy states was up 34 pounds per cow year over year.
