Milk production in the 24 major states during May totaled 18.1 billion lb., down only 0.1% from May 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest “Milk Production” report showed. USDA also announced that it added Georgia to the monthly estimating program beginning with the latest report report.

Revised production for April, at 17.6 billion lb., was up 0.5% from April 2018. The April revision represented an increase of 195 million lb., or 1.1%, from last month's preliminary 23-state production estimate.

“The change to a 24-state total accounted for 157 million of the 195 million lb. revision to the 23-state production total for April 2019. The remaining 38 million lb., or 0.2%, were a result of the normal revision process,” USDA said.

Production per cow in the 24 major states averaged 2,062 lb. for May -- 11 lb. above May 2018.

The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major states was 8.79 million head, 55,000 head less than May 2018 but 5,000 head more than April 2019.