South Dakota once again led the nation for milk production growth in November and for 2021. According to USDA South Dakota produced 44 million gallons of milk in November 2021 verses November 2020. South Dakota Dairy Producers Association President Marv Post says for the calendar year production will be up double digits, while national production slid 1-percent.

He says the increase came with South Dakota adding cows nearly 25,000 cows to existing dairies.

Post says there is potential to grow production even more with many large dairies already permitted and just waiting for more processing capacity to build. So, they’re out actively trying to recruit a new processor.

The per-cow production in South Dakota also jumped in 2021 from 1,880 pounds per cow to 1,895 pounds.