Ever wonder which state produces the third-most milk?
Same here!
Let’s see.
Below are the milk production numbers for 48 states in 2019, and Alaska and Hawaii in 2018. But first, a few details:
- The data comes from this source, the NASS’s February 2020 Milk Production survey.
- Alaska and Hawaii’s data comes from 2018 because it was withheld for 2019, “to avoid disclosing data for individual operations,” which means Hawaii and Alaska have very few milk producers, in case anyone’s looking to change that.
- The data makes clear at a few points that it does not include “milk sucked by calves.” In other words (the same words), don’t go thinking this includes milk sucked by calves.
Alright, the numbers:
1. California: 40.6 Billion Pounds
No surprise here. California’s a big, fertile state, guys. Close to first place in everything, except for the love of God (just kidding I don’t know how much God loves California relative to the other states).
2. Wisconsin: 30.6 Billion Pounds
No surprise here either. America’s Dairyland! Our heroes.
3. Idaho: 15.6 Billion Pounds
Wowza! Now this is a surprise. Wouldn’t have guessed Idaho had this much dairy. So many mountains, you know? And potatoes. Where do the cows go??
4. New York: 15.1 Billion Pounds
This makes sense, but I wouldn’t have thought of it on my own. Credit to the Empire State.
5. Texas: 13.9 Billion Pounds
There’s the current home. Interesting piece from DairyReporter.com about this last summer: Are Idaho and Texas the Future of US Dairy? Not sure how I feel about the large farms, but some helpful notes in there regarding smaller operations, and interesting bit about Indonesian/EU milk trade!
6. Michigan: 11.4 Billion Pounds
7. Pennsylvania: 10.1 Billion Pounds
The Wisconsin’s of the East. There’s a reason these states get so much attention during presidential campaigns. That reason isn’t dairy, but it’d be cooler if it was.
8. Minnesota: 9.9 Billion Pounds
A solid showing from the old pal. Haven’t been to enough state fairs to know how Minnesota’s stacks up in terms of dairy reverence, but it’s certainly reverent towards dairy, and I appreciate that.
9. New Mexico: 8.2 Billion Pounds
Whoa. Wasn’t expecting this one. Nice! I like New Mexico.
10. Washington: 6.8 Billion Pounds
11. Ohio: 5.4 Billion Pounds
12. Iowa: 5.3 Billion Pounds
13. Colorado: 4.8 Billion Pounds
Good, nice states. Except maybe Ohio. A good state, but is it nice?
14. Arizona: 4.8 Billion Pounds
This would be surprising if the list was going in the opposite direction, but we already saw New Mexico.
15. Indiana: 4.1 Billion Pounds
16. Kansas: 3.8 Billion Pounds
17. South Dakota: 2.8 Billion Pounds
Midwestern agricultural powerhouses, but mostly in areas other than dairy (corn, wheat, silly billboards).
18. Vermont: 2.7 Billion Pounds
Credit to Vermont, who’s really punching above its land mass here. Haven’t run the numbers yet, but would guess the milk/mile2 is one of the highest in all the land.
19. Oregon: 2.6 Billion Pounds
Remember cowcohol? That was Oregon. Classic Oregonians.
20. Florida: 2.3 Billion Pounds
A respectable showing from the people who grow the oranges (definitely just accidentally wrote something that sounded racist and had to edit it).
21. Utah: 2.3 Billion Pounds
22. Georgia: 1.8 Billion Pounds
23. Illinois: 1.7 Billion Pounds
Yep.
24. Virginia: 1.5 Billion Pounds
25. Nebraska: 1.4 Billion Pounds
26. Missouri: 1.1 Billion Pounds
27. Kentucky: 941 Million Pounds
Imagine if Kentucky had gone into dairy instead of horses. The Kentucky Derby being a cow race and all of us finding it perfectly normal. How cool would that be?
28. North Carolina: 902 Million Pounds
29. Maryland: 840 Million Pounds
I think Maryland’s bigger than I think it is. If that makes sense.
30. Nevada: 762 Million Pounds
31. Oklahoma: 731 Million Pounds
Kind of expected more out of Oklahoma.
32. Maine: 621 Million Pounds
33. Tennessee: 551 Million Pounds
34. Connecticut: 428 Million Pounds
Didn’t expect that much out of Connecticut. Props.
35. North Dakota: 326 Million Pounds
36. Montana: 259 Million Pounds
Interesting how disparate the showings are from Idaho and Montana. I know the states are pretty different topographically, but I do lump them together in my mind. Guess Montana’s a beef state? Maybe I should look that up.
37. New Hampshire: 238 Million Pounds
38. South Carolina: 206 Million Pounds
39. Massachusetts: 192 Million Pounds
40. Wyoming: 147 Million Pounds
41. Louisiana: 135 Million Pounds
Kind of a funny grouping. Imagine Louisiana and Massachusetts hanging out. Makes me giggle. Also, wouldn’t have guessed Louisiana would be above Mississippi and Alabama and Arkansas.
42. Mississippi: 126 Million Pounds
43. New Jersey: 100 Million Pounds
44. West Virginia: 90 Million Pounds
45: Delaware: 74 Million Pounds
46. Arkansas: 67 Million Pounds
47. Alabama: 60 Million Pounds
48. Hawaii: 34 Million Pounds
49. Rhode Island: 11 Million Pounds
50. Alaska: 3 Million Pounds
Everyone does their part. Except for Alaska, but maybe they’re doing their part and it’s just coming out as straight ice cream? Just kidding Alaska you’re doing great.
