Milk production increased 1.4 percent in 2017 to 215 billion pounds. The rate per cow, at 22,941 pounds, was 163 pounds above 2016. The annual average number of milk cows on farms was 9.39 million head, up 67,000 head from 2016.
Cash receipts from marketings of milk during 2017 totaled $37.9 billion, 9.8 percent higher than 2016. Producer returns averaged $17.69 per hundredweight, 8.3 percent above 2016. Marketings totaled 214.5 billion pounds, 1.5 percent above 2016. Marketings include whole milk sold to plants and dealers and milk sold directly to consumers.
An estimated 979 million pounds of milk were used on farms where produced, 1.4 percent less than 2016. Calves were fed 91 percent of this milk, with the remainder consumed in producer households.
