Milk production in the 24 major milk-producing states during December totaled 18 billion pounds, down 0.4 percent from December 2023. November revised production, at 17.3 billion pounds, was down 0.3 percent from November.
The decline in milk production has been, in part, due to the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak in California, according to dairy broker Matt Tranel of Ever.Ag. He told Mid-West Farm Report that he expects the impact of HPAI on California milk production to dissipate fairly quickly.
For example, the November milk production report showed California production down 9.2 percent from the same time last year. The December milk production report puts California down 6.8 percent.
“When you do look at the other major milk regions around the country, we did actually see some growth,” Tranel says. “So we’ve got to keep in the back of our mind that as California continues to rebound in production if some of these other territories are growing, that could be a little bit worrisome moving forward.”
He says these regions saw growth: Northwest (1%), Southwest (2.9%), Midwest (0.8%), and Mideast (1%).
Zooming in, these specific states saw the highest growth year-over-year: Texas (7.5%), South Dakota (6.4%), and Colorado (3.9%).
See the latest milk production report: https://www.midwestfarmreport.com/2025/01/26/latest-usda-milk-production-report/
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