Posted: 02.23.2011

Wisconsin’s 1.26 million milk cows produced 26.0 billion pounds of milk in 2010. This represents a 3 percent increase from 2009 and is a new record for Wisconsin. Statewide, milk per cow averaged 20,630 pounds, 551 pounds more than a year earlier. In 2010 Wisconsin accounted for 14 percent of the na-tion’s production.

Nationally 193 billion pounds of milk were produced in 2010, up 2 percent from 2009. Average milk per cow grew to 21,149, up 576 pounds from the previous year. The number of milk cows in the U.S. decreased in 2010. There were 9.12 million cows, 86,000 fewer than in the previous year.

California continued to be the nation’s top milk producer with 40.4 billion pounds in 2010. Wisconsin was second with 26.0 billion pounds. Idaho passed New York to take over third place with 12.8 billion pounds. New York moved into fourth place with 12.7 billion pounds, and Pennsylvania remained in fifth place with 10.7 billion pounds of milk.

The average number of dairy farms licensed to sell milk in Wisconsin during 2010 was 12,710, down 460 from the previ-ous year. The U.S. total was 53,127 licensed dairy herds, a loss of 1,805 herds.

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