April good month for Wis., Minn. dairy farmers

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

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