October saw the second consecutive increase in the U.S. dairy herd as higher prices for products like cheese and non-fat dried milk (NFDM) helped lift milking revenues.

The November Milk Production report showed that the 24-state number and total U.S. herd recovered by 5,000 head over the prior month. Total milk production was up 1.3 percent compared with October of last year.

Although the total herd is still lower than October 2018, we have hopefully turned the corner and are poised for continued growth into 2020. Already the 24-state number has recovered its herd losses in 2019 and the total U.S. herd is only down 25,000 milk cows from January.

Total U.S. dairy herd


Source: USDA
Posted by: Information Services
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