August milk report a repeat of July

Continued cool weather throughout the Midwest led to a near photocopy of the July milk production data for this August as states in that region again ranked near the top for milk production gains. This time, Illinois led all states, up 5.4 percent. It was followed by neighboring Indiania, up 4.9 percent. Meanwhile, fellow Midwestern states including Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were up 4.6 to 3.7 percent.

Even with the Midwest's growth in milk production, overall output for August was down 0.2 percent compared to a year ago when looking at the top 23 dairy states. Like last month, Arizona again posted the largest drop, down 7.4 percent. It was followed by California, down 4.5 percent. Other Western states including Idaho, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Washington were down 3.1 to 1.1 percent.

Compared to a year ago, milk production per cow was up 25 pounds. Meanwhile, there are 143,000 fewer cows compared to last year for the top 23 dairy states. When all states are included, there are 174,000 fewer cows compared to last December.