US milk supply recovers after bird flu dip in California

The milk supply in the United States showed the largest increase in a year in March. Remarkably, production in California, the largest dairy state in the country, is recovering after the significant dip caused by bird flu outbreaks. The production in the 24 major states last month reached 8.64 million tons, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA. This represents a 1% increase compared to the same month last year, the highest since February 2024. Across the entire U.S., there is a visible increase of 0.9% in March. The growth is a result of higher animal numbers and slightly higher production per cow. In February, there was a decrease due to the leap year. Production was 0.9% higher on a daily basis compared to a year earlier, which also aligns with the increase in March. In January, the increase was 0.6%. The USDA announced earlier this month that they expect a 0.7% increase for the whole of 2025. California At the state level, there are several notable outliers. Production in California was 2.1% behind last year in March. In February, this was still 3.75% on a daily production basis, and almost 10% before that. The decline in March is the smallest in six months, indicating that the impact of bird flu on milk production is diminishing. However, reports of affected dairy farms continue, albeit at a slower pace. This explains the recovery in milk production. On April 17, authorities in California reported that in the past 30 days, 8 farms were affected by the H5N1 variant. This brought the total number of affected farms to 764. So far, 1,000 farms have been infected throughout the U.S. Texas Furthermore, the significant increase in production in Texas stands out, with a whopping 9.4% rise last month. Due to this increase, Texas has recently become the third-largest dairy state in the U.S.