If the milk prices didn't already tell you, you should know that there's a lot of milk being produced in the U.S. today. Year-over-year, January through April have averaged 767,000 pounds more per month in 2012 over 2011. April's 3.2 percent advantage follows a March 4.1 percent gain and February's 8.1 percent rally over 2011 production in all 50 states.



Milk per cow, cow numbers up
For the first four months of the year, both milk per cow and cow numbers are contributing to the higher U.S. milk production. Milk per cow is up 50, 116, 58, and 40 pounds in January through April, respectively. Meanwhile, cow numbers are up 82,000, 91,000, 87,000, and 90,000 for the same time period.

In the 23 selected states with the most production, the gains are slightly higher in milk production and cow numbers but lower in milk per cow. For April, the 23 selected states gained 3.28 percent in milk production, 2.18 percent in milk per cow, and 1.11 percent in cows over 2011.

Through the first four months of the year, milk is up 4.7 percent in all states and 4.8 percent in the 23 selected states over 2011.