Pa. milk production up

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Milk production in Pennsylvania during April 2006 totaled 919 million pounds, 2 percent above last April’s production of 901 million pounds, according to the Pennsylvania Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The number of milk cows in the state during the month averaged 557,000 head, up 2,000 head from March, but 6,000 less than April 2005.
Production per cow averaged 1,650 pounds in April, 50 pounds less than March’s production per cow of 1,700 pounds but 50 pounds more than April 2005.
‘Major states.’ Milk production in the 23 states surveyed during April 2006 totaled 14.2 billion pounds, up 3.7 percent compared to production in these same states during April 2005.
March revised production, at 14.6 billion pounds, was up 5.6 percent from March 2005.
The March revision represented an increase of 25 million pounds or 0.2 million pounds from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Production per cow in the 23 major states averaged 1,727 pounds for April, 37 pounds above April 2005.
The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major states was 8.24 million head, 124,000 head more than April 2005, and 13,000 head more than March 2006.