Dairy cows

I get to be the sub for the ag program when the FFA convention is. I need a little help for some math questions that I am working on. What is an average number of pounds of milk that different breeds of cows produce in one year? What is the average price for milk ny the CWT in the midwest? How much water does the average cow drink in a day? Any other math ag related questions for AG-1 students let me have them. Thanks in advance. J.

This is what my dairyman neighbor told me.

Holsteins 22000-25000 #s milk per yr
Jersey 14000-16000 #s milk per yr

$19 per CWT based 3.5% butterfat

25-45 gal of water per day depending on moisture of feed,ambient temp and size of cow

Maybe I'm behind the times, but those production numbers
sound a little optimistic to me.

Glenn F.

Same here- so I googled it- Wikipedia says 2008 production average for Holstein cows was 23,022# per year. Probably higher now, 5 years later. I left Farm Credit in 1996, seems like the average was about 19,000# then.

(quoted from post at 12:35:39 10/13/13) Maybe I'm behind the times, but those production numbers
sound a little optimistic to me.

Glenn F.

Click to expand...

My dairyman neighbor is on the board of directors of a Milk producing organization and keeps up with the current production figures.

Milk production per cow is a hard answer to give.
To give you an example.
The average herd for the entire country comes in just over 20,000 lbs a year but top herds in a state can be over 30,000 per year.
While breed plays a big role; management practices such as milking 2 or 3 times a day; and quality of cows you have are a big factor.
A grade Holstein cow milked twice a day from a southern state may only give 13,000 to 15,000 lbs a year; where as a top registered Holstein milked three times a day can give over 30,000 lbs a year.
I think the record is over 50,000 or maybe even 60,000 lbs a year now.
We are producing 3 times the milk out of half the cows if you compare today to the late 50's or early 60's.

Along those same lines water intake goes up and down my month and herd. A cow needs to drink about twice what she puts out in milk so you can see some drink a lot more than others.

Some cool facts.
It takes about 350 squirts when hand milking to make a gallon of milk.
The average cow lives about 20 years but the average dairy cow is wore out in 5 to 7 years and sent to slaughter.
Milk contains 87% water and 13% milk solids
A cow spends over 6 hours a day eating and that does not include time chewing her cud.

Your numbers look good - close, at least. I would have guessed water consumption a little higher. Milk price is about $1 lower...now at least. Bounces around an awful lot. I'm in WI, which also affects the price.

Average Holstein will still give 100lb of manure each day. Don't ask me how I know this.Bruce

When I was milking Holsteins here in N. Ireland (7yrs ago) My herd average was 10,000 litres on twice a day milking. That figure was taken as an average from 130 milkers including about 25% of first calvers.
Sam

Our cows produce 75-80 lbs per hd per day which in turn is a 24,000 lb avg on a 305 day lactation.The most we have ever had a cow milk in a day was 144lbs.She was special and far superior to the rest of the herd.An adult holstien will drink 40-50 lbs of water daily.Our cows eat 90- 100 lbs of feed daily.As far as milk price here in Mn. it aint near enough.Last months base price was $18.06/cwtOn avg our cows weigh around 1400 lbs.

This may come as a surprise to you. These days there are many grade herds out producing the registered herds.

Bob N Y
I can believe that especially with AI
With good choices of a AI partner you can upgrade grade cows very quickly.
Heck some cows we call grade cause the mother was not registered are really 99% registered blood line because the father used was a registered bull for so many generations back.

What hurts is when a farmer off breeds heifers for easy calving and then puts the calf in the herd.

We started AI-100% in 1946.

A big thank ou for all the good information!