Milk production in the 23 major milk-producing states during December totaled 15.4 billion pounds, up 2.7% from December 2010, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

November's revised production at 14.7 billion pounds was up 2.2% from November 2010. The November revision represented an increase of 3 million pounds or less than 0.1% from last month's preliminary production estimate.

Production per cow in the 23 major states averaged 1,818 pounds for December, 27 pounds above December 2010. The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.49 million head, 99,000 head more than December 2010, and 12,000 head more than November 2011.

Read the entire report on the NASS website.