U.S. Milk Production Advancing

WASHINGTON - Oct 17/05 - SNS -- Milk production in the U.S.'s 23 major producing states totaled 13.0 billion pounds in September, up 4.9% from last year, according to the USDA.

August revised production, at 13.6 billion pounds, was up 4.8% from August 2004. The August revision represented an increase of 22 million pounds from last month's preliminary production estimate.

Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,597 pounds for September, 64 pounds above September 2004. The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.16 million head, 54,000 head more than September 2004, and 1,000 head more than August 2005.

Milk production in the U.S. during the July-September quarter totaled 44.0 billion pounds, up 4.2% from the July-September quarter last year. The average number of milk cows in the U.S. during the quarter was 9.05 million head, 27,000 head more than the same period last year.

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