MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Even discounting the additional Leap Day, milk producers in Wisconsin and Minnesota had a better February this year than they did last year.

Wisconsin dairy farmers harvested 2.2 billion pounds of milk in February. On a per-cow average, that’s a 4 percent improvement over February of 2011.

It was the same story in Minnesota, which produced 714 million pounds. That’s a 2 percent improvement, again based on a per-cow average.

Across the nation, dairy producers harvested a total of 15.2 billion pounds, a 3 percent improvement after controlling for the effect of Feb. 29.

The national rankings remain largely unchanged. As usual, California is the clear No. 1, having produced 3.5 billion pounds. Wisconsin is still No. 2 and New York ranked third. Minnesota is seventh.

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