PA Dairy Industry Performance

Pennsylvania ranks 5th in the U.S. in total milk production, producing 10.73 billion pounds in 2010. The state has 539,000 cows that average 21,033 pounds per year. The state ranks fourth in total cow numbers and 15th in milk production per cow. Improving milk production per cow is the most significant way to improve on-farm profitability, with every three pounds in milk contributing an additional $100 in profit per year. Every additional cow added to an existing facility has the potential to increase net profits on that farm by $2,000 annually.

Industry Scorecard

The Pennsylvania Dairy Task Force set an industry-wide goal of reaching 10.8 billion pounds of milk. To learn more about this goal, click on the "Top 10!" logo. Efforts coordinated through the center and task force focus on programs to help the commonwealth reach that goal.

To track our performance toward that goal, the Center for Dairy Excellence publishes a monthly “PA Dairy Industry Performance Scorecard,” which looks at key factors supporting the growth of Pennsylvania’s dairy industry and evaluates trends affecting Pennsylvania's dairy farms.

The Center for Dairy Excellence works with the Farmshine newspaper to publish a weekly "Market and Management Update." Click here to view that.

The January edition of the Pennsylvania Dairy Industry Performance Scorecard shows:

• Pennsylvania's milk production in December was down from a year ago just 0.22 percent to 889 million pounds, a rebound of 4.5 percent from November's low. Daily production per cow jumped 1 percent from November and a half percent from a year ago to 61.16 pounds. Cow numbers remained low, down 4,000 head from a year ago but up 1,000 head from November to 539,000.
• The state's market share of the U.S. milk supply continues to slip, down 2.69 percent from a year ago to 5.37 percent. The state's rolling herd average was also down, falling a half percent to 20,919 pounds.
• Somatic cell counts remained low, at 247,180 for December, down 0.6 percent from November but up 3.6 percent from a year ago. Pregnancy rates improved, up 14 percent from November to 17.12 percent.

Click here to view this month's scorecard

To see a Summary of this month's scorecard, click here.

To view this week's Dairy Week in Review, click here.

View Background on PA Industry Dynamics

To view milk margins for past 12 months, click here.

Click here for Dr. David Galligan’s Visual Analytics on National and Statewide Trends.