Milk Production Down Year-Over-Year in Final Two Months of 2024, USDA Reports

USDA’s latest Milk Production report, released Friday, outlines the nation’s milk production through the end of 2024. Here’s a look at the numbers across the 24 major milk-producing states.

November Milk Production Significantly Revised

For the 24 major states, USDA revised November’s milk production to 17.3 billion pounds, up from the preliminary production estimate of 17.2 billion pounds. With that revision, November production was down only 0.3% year-over-year. “The November revision represented an increase of 89 million pounds or 0.5% from last month’s preliminary production estimate,” according to the agency.

December Milk Production Down Year-Over-Year

Milk production across the 24 major states reached 18.0 billion pounds for the month of December, down 0.4% from December 2023.

Oregon had the greatest percent decrease in milk production for December year-over-year. Production for December 2024 was 190 million pounds, down from 207 million pounds in the same month 2023. That’s a change of -8.2%.

California, which boasts the highest milk production in the country, also saw an overall decrease in December production compared to the same month in 2023. USDA said California’s milk production was 3,213 million pounds in December 2024, down 6.8% from December 2023.

Texas was the state with the greatest percent increase in milk production for December year-over-year. December 2024 production was 1,482 million pounds, up from 1,378 million pounds in 2023. That’s a change of 7.5%.

Milk Per Cow Lower Year-Over-Year for Second Straight Month

Milk production per cow in the 24 major states averaged 2,020 pounds for December 2024, which is 11 pounds lower than in December the year prior.

It’s the second month in a row that milk production has been below that of the same month in 2023. The revised number for November milk production per cow was 1,936 pounds, down from 1,947 pounds in November 2023.

The number of milk cows on farms across those 24 top states was 8.91 million head. That’s 17,000 head more than December 2023.