USDA says dairy cows down, but not milk production

The USDA says 2018 milk production was up on the year and during January with seven percent fewer dairy farms. Total 2018 production was up one percent at 218 billion pounds and January was up slightly more than one percent at 17.5 billion pounds.Total per cow production averaged more than 23,000 pounds last year, up 235 from 2017.  Per cow production has increased 12.6 percent nationally over the past decade while the herd size has only increased two percent.  There were 9.4 million milk cows on farms in 2018, down a tenth of a percent from the year before.During 2018, Michigan had the most productive cows; Colorado and Texas had the largest increase in milk production; and Alabama, Hawaii and West Virginia had the largest declines. The USDA reported a loss of more than 2,700 licensed dairy farms in 2018, nearly seven percent.  In the Midwest, Michigan lost 13 percent of dairy farmers, Missouri down 12 percent, Indiana lost 10 percent, Ohio down 8 percent, Minnesota and Iowa down 7 percent, Wisconsin lost 6 percent, and Illinois was down five percent.