April good month for Wis., Minn. dairy farmers

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — April was an especially good month for dairy farmers in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Wisconsin produced 2.2 billion pounds of milk last month. That was an increase of 6 percent from the same month last year, one of the largest percentage increases in the nation.

Minnesota dairy farmers churned out 776 million pounds, That was a 3 percent increase.

That trend of increased production played out across the country. Dairy farmers in the 23 largest dairy states produced 15.2 billion pounds, a 2 percent increase from a year ago.

California remained the nation's top producer last month with 3.4 billion pounds. That was essentially unchanged from last year.

Wisconsin is still No. 2 but it continues to close the gap with California, however slightly.

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Online:

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service: http://www.nass.usda.gov/

Tags: agriculture, milk, livestock