U.S. milk production climbed 1.5% in April, marking the strongest year-over-year increase since 2022, fueled by larger herds and modest gains in cow productivity.
Milk production across the U.S. continued to climb in April, with total output reaching 19.4 billion pounds, up 1.5% compared to the same month last year, according to USDA data. In the 24 major dairy states, production hit 18.6 billion pounds, a 1.6% year-over-year increase.
Driving the growth was a combination of larger herds and higher production per cow. Nationally, cow numbers reached 9.43 million head, up 89,000 from April 2024 and 5,000 from March 2025. In the top 24 states, the dairy herd stood at 8.98 million head, 93,000 more than a year ago.
Productivity also saw modest gains. The average cow in the major dairy states produced 2,071 lb. of milk in April, 12 lb. more than last year. Nationwide, production per cow was 2,055 lb., up 11 lb. from a year ago.
The data also included a slight upward revision to March milk production, increasing last month’s estimate by 26 million pounds. The continued growth in production could signal increased pressure on prices but also provides additional supply to meet both domestic and export demand.
“While a 1.5% gain in U.S. output isn’t jaw-dropping, it’s still the largest year-over-year advance since 2022,” says Phil Plourd, head of insights at Ever.Ag. “At a high level, we’ve seen decent margin opportunities over the past several months. The forward look isn’t quite as robust, but it still looks to be in the go zone on paper. Growth would likely be even stronger if we had a lot more heifers, but we’re continuing to keep cow numbers above year-prior levels on lighter culling.”
As summer approaches, industry watchers will be keeping a close eye on feed costs, weather and global demand, all key factors that will influence how long this growth trend can continue.
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