JANUARY- MARCH 2005 MILK PRODUCTION

UNCHANGED FROM 2004

Columbia, S.C., April 19, 2005: There were an estimated 79 million pounds of milk produced in SOUTH CAROLINA during the January-March quarter of 2005, the USDA NASS South Carolina Statistical Service announced. This is unchanged from January-March 2004 quarter, and up 14 percent from October-December 2004 quarter.

          There were 18,000 milk cows on SOUTH CAROLINA farms during January-March 2005, up 1,000 from the same quarter in 2004, and unchanged from the October-December 2004 quarter.

          Milk production in the UNITED STATES during the January-March quarter totaled 43.2 billion pounds, up 1.1 percent from the January-March quarter last year. The average number of milk cows in the U.S. during the quarter was 9.00 million head, 2,000 head more than the same period last year.

For additional information call:  Robert A. Graham, State Director

                                                      Stan Cheek, Agricultural Statistician