Based on the Dec. 2024 USDA Milk Production report, U.S. milk production
came in at 18.7 billion pounds, down 0.5% from Dec. 2023. For the last quarter,
milk production reached 55.5 billion pounds, a 0.1% decrease year over year.
U.S. milk cow numbers dropped 47 thousand head from Dec. 2023’s levels to
Dec. 2024. In the final quarter of 2024, the average number of milk cows in the
U.S. reached 9.36 million head, up 29,000 head from the third quarter and
10,000 head more than the same timeframe for 2023.