In its recent Agriculture Projections to 2022 report, the USDA predicts that annual US milk production will rise to 230.1 billion pounds in 2022. That’s a 14% rise from the most recent forecast for 2013, of 201 billion pounds.
A 3.5% decline in cow numbers from 2012 to 2022 is predicted to be offset by a 19% increase in production per cow, reflecting continued technological and genetic developments.
In the previous decade, from 2002 to 2012, total US milk production increased by 18%, from a 2012 total of 170.1 billion pounds. Over that period cow numbers increased by 1% and production per cow lifted by 16%.
The USDA figures also show that after a decline in 2013, commercial exports of dairy products are expected to lift steadily through the remainder of the forecast period, reaching record levels on both a fat and skim-solids basis. Commercial exports are predicted to rise from 33.7 billion pounds (15.3 million tonnes) in 2012 to 47.2 billion pounds (21.4 million tonnes) in 2022.
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