UNDATED (WSAU)   Wisconsin had another healthy increase in its milk production last month, while the nation as a whole reported its first year-to-year decline of 2012.

The intense summer heat was blamed for the national drop. But in Wisconsin, new government figures show that the state made 4.9-percent more milk in August than in the same month of 2011. The Badger State produced a total of 2.3-billion pounds, the second-highest in the country behind California.

7,000 cows were added to a Wisconsin dairy herd that’s now getting to be close to 1.75-million. And each cow made about 75 pounds more milk than a year ago, for an average of 1,820 pounds.

Meanwhile California had the nation’s biggest decline at 5.8-percent. The Golden State made just under 3.3-billion pounds of milk, while its production per cow dropped by 125 pounds.

Nationally almost 16.4-billion pounds of milk were produced last month. That’s down three-tenths of a percent from the previous year – the first such decline in 2012, even though the year-to-year figures had been slipping since February.