Milk cows on farms in Mississippi averaged 47,000 head during 1997, down 4,000 head from the previous
year. Annual milk production per cow, at 13,489 pounds, was 587 pounds better than 1996. Total milk
production, at 634 million pounds, was down 4 percent from a year earlier. Milkfat produced per cow during
1997 amounted to 479 pounds, up 21 pounds from the previous year. The number of farms with milk cows
dropped to 550, compared to 600 farms the previous year.

Producers in Mississippi sold 630 million pounds of milk to plants and dealers during 1997, a decrease of 4
percent from a year earlier. In addition, producers used one million pounds of milk, cream and butter on the
farm, the same as a year earlier.

Cash receipts for milk produced during 1997 amounted to $ 90.7 mllion, down 14 percent from 1996. The
average value of milk was $ 4.06 per hundredweight, down 48 cents from the previous year.