Look Beyond Headline Milk Production for Inspiration

“Milk production has been essentially flat for the past three years, and 2024 is on track for another year at the same level, if not less. On the surface, that may seem uninspiring. However, there are two underlying developments hidden from the headline number that suggest that producers are far from flatlining: That steady amount of milk is being produced by fewer cows, and the milk is richer in components,” wrote Ben Laine, Terrain senior dairy analyst, in an article published in the July 1, 2024, issue of Hoard’s Dairyman Intel.

He continued, “Producers looking at the headline milk production level may be lulled into thinking we are stagnating as an industry. But there is a lot going on with milk per cow yield and component production, which are more important benchmarks to measure yourself against to get ahead.”

Read the rest of the article on the Hoard’s website.