Milk production in the 23 major dairy states was fractionally higher in April 2013 compared to the same month a year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its May 20 Milk Production report.Total April production was 16.1 billion lbs, up 0.3% from the same month a year ago, the U.S.D.A. said. For the January-March quarter of 2013, a total of 50,495 million lbs was produced, down 1.1% from the same quarter of 2012, the U.S.D.A. said.
The state with the largest March 2013-to-March 2012 per cent decline in milk production was Missouri. The U.S.D.A. said the state produced 125 million lbs of milk in March 2013, down from 135 million lbs in March, 2012, a decline of 7.4%. The state with the largest per cent increase in March 2013, was Kansas, which produced 252 million lbs of milk compared with 239 million lbs in March 2012, a gain of 5.4%, the U.S.D.A. said.
In April 2013, the state with the largest per cent decline compared to April 2012 was again Missouri, which saw its milk production decline by 5.9% to 128 million lbs. Kansas, with the largest per cent increase in April production, saw its most-recent April milk production increase by 6.4% to 248 million lbs, up from 233 million lbs in April a year ago, the U.S.D.A. said.
