Milk production in the United States during the October -
December quarter totaled 53.8 billion pounds, up 0.8 percent from the same
period last year.
The average number of milk cows in the U.S. during the
quarter was 9.34 million head, 18,000 head more than the second quarter, but
22,000 head less than the same period last year.
During the month of December, California had the highest
total production with about 3.42 billion pounds. Texas had the greatest
increase in output as that state produced 1.17 billion pounds of milk--about
8.6 percent more from the same period last year. However, 11 of the top 24
states had lower year-to-year production last month.