U.S. milk production climbed 2 percent in February as rising prices spurred dairy farmers to increase herds and boost per-cow output, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Production climbed to 15.055 billion pounds (6.83 billion kilograms) from 14.758 billion in February 2010, the USDA said today in a report. The dairy herd totaled 9.16 million head last month, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, while the average cow produced 1,644 pounds of milk, up 1.3 percent, the department said.
“There is a strong underlying desire to get as much milk as possible from each cow with prices rising,” said Bill Brooks, a Kansas City, Kansas-based economist with INTL FCStone. “We should see the growth in milk per cow increase the next three months as new cows are added to the herd and fresh forage supplies become available.”
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