Feb 2006 NY Crop and Livestock Report

NEW YORK CROP

AND LIVESTOCK REPORT

Released: February 2006

Monthly

No. 973-2-06

NEW YORK CATTLE INVENTORY UNCHANGED

The number of cattle and calves in New York on January 1, 2006 totaled 1.41 million head. This total is unchanged from last year but down 1 percent from January 1, 2004.

Milk cows, which comprise 46 percent of the total cattle in New York, numbered 652,000 head, up 2,000 head from January 1, 2005. New York ranked third in the number of dairy cows behind California with 1.77 million and Wisconsin with 1.24 million. Milk cow replacement heifers in the Empire State, at 325,000, were up 7 percent from a year earlier.

New York’s beef cow herd totaled 78,000 head, down 2 percent from a year ago. Beef cow replacement heifers totaled 25,000, down 7 percent from January 1, 2005. Other heifers and steers weighing 500 pounds or more, which are normally on feed for slaughter, were down 17 percent to 68,000 head. Bulls weighing 500 pounds or more were up 6 percent at 17,000 head.

The 2005 New York calf crop totaled 590,000 head, down 2 percent from the 2004 crop. Of this number, 245,000, or 42 percent, remained on farms and weighed less than 500 pounds as of January 1, 2005.

NEW YORK SHEEP AND GOAT INVENTORIES

The number of sheep and lambs on farms across New York State on January 1, 2006 totaled 70,000 head, New York Field Office. This total is down 7 percent from 75,000 head on January 1, 2005.

A total of 51,000 lambs were born in New York during 2005, down 4 percent from 2004. Breeding ewes a year old and older in the State at the beginning of 2005 totaled 43,000 head, which gives a lambing rate of 119 lambs per 100 ewes. This compares with lambing rates of 129 in 2004.

Total goat inventory has been set at 33,800 head for the Empire State, a 6 percent increase over 2005. Numbers show that the milk and meat goat industries continue to maintain their strength. Meat goats accounted for 20,000 head, milk goats are at 12,800 head, and Angora goats are 1,000 head. The number of meat goats was up 5 percent from a year ago while the number of milk goats decreased by 2 percent.

Cattle and Sheep on Farms and Value, January 1 1/

	Unit	New York			United States 2/
	Unit	2004	2005	2006	2004	2005	2006
		1,000			Million

All cattle and calves	No.	1,420	1,410	1,410	94.9	95.4	97.1
Cows and heifers that have calved	No.	740	730	730	41.9	41.9	42.3
Kept for milk	No.	658	650	652	9.0	9.0	9.1
Kept for beef	No.	82	80	78	32.9	32.9	33.3
Heifers 500 lbs. and over
For milk replacement	No.	300	305	325	4.0	4.1	4.3
For beef replacement	No.	28	27	25	5.5	5.7	5.9
Other heifers	No.	42	48	40	9.8	9.8	9.8
Bulls 500 lbs. and over	No.	18	16	17	2.2	2.2	2.3
Steers 500 lbs. and over	No.	37	34	28	16.3	16.5	16.9
Calves less than 500 lbs.	No.	255	250	245	15.2	15.2	15.6
Cattle and calves on feed	No.	20	23	18	13.8	13.7	14.1

All sheep and lambs	No.	70	75	70	6.1	6.1	6.2
All breeding sheep	No.	54	58	54	4.5	4.5	4.6
Ewes 1 year and older	No.	41	43	41	3.6	3.6	3.7
Rams 1 year and older	No.	3	3	3	0.2	0.2	0.2
Replacement lambs	No.	10	12	10	0.7	0.8	0.8
Market sheep and lambs	No.	16	17	16	1.6	1.6	1.6

Goats	No.		32,000	33,800		2.7	2.8
Goats for meat	No.		19,000	20,000		2.2	2.3
Goats for milk	No.		13,000	12,800		0.3	0.3
Angora-type goats	No.		900	1,000		0.3	0.3
1/ U.S. totals may not add due to rounding

FIELD CROPS: Acreage, yield, production, season average price and value,
New York, 2003-2005

Year	Acres		Yield per acre	Unit	Production	Mkt. year wtd. average price 1/	Value of production
Year	Planted	Harvested	Yield per acre	Unit	Production	Mkt. year wtd. average price 1/	Value of production
	Thousands				Thousands		Thousands
CORN FOR GRAIN
2003	1,000	440	121.0	Bushels	53,240	2.82	150,137
2004	980	500	122.0	Bushels	61,000	2.37	144,570
2005	990	460	1,240	Bushels	57,040	2.05	116,932

CORN FOR SILAGE
2003	-	550	17.5	Tons	9,625	26.20	252,175
2004	-	470	17.0	Tons	7,990	26.00	207,740
2005	-	520	17.0	Tons	8,840	25.70	227,188

ALL WHEAT
2003	130	120	53.0	Bushels	6,360	2.85	15,455
2004	105	100	53.0	Bushels	5,300	2.80	14,840
2005	100	95	54.0	Bushels	5,130	3.10	15,647

OATS
2003	85	70	63.0	Bushels	4,410	1.81	7,982
2004	65	50	65.0	Bushels	3,250	1.80	5,850
2005	95	75	54.0	Bushels	4,050	1.60	6,480

BARLEY
2003	15	13	50.0	Bushels	650	2.09	1,359
2004	14	10	53.0	Bushels	530	2.05	1,087
2005	17	15	49.0	Bushels	735	1.90	1,397

RYE
2003	35	8	33.0	Bushels	264	2.00	528
2004	30	9	43.0	Bushels	387	2.00	774
2005	2/	2/	2/	Bushels	2/	2/	2/

POTATOES
2003	22.2	21.7	300	Cwt.	6,510	9.65	62,822
2004	20.0	19.2	270	Cwt.	5,184	8.05	42,768
2005	20.5	20.1	260	Cwt.	5,226	12.50	65,325

DRY BEANS 3/
2003	25	24.0	1,860	Cwt.	446	22.60	10,080
2004	24	23.5	1,050	Cwt.	247	27.90	6,891
2005	25	23.0	1,230	Cwt.	282	22.00	6,204

SOYBEANS
2003	140	138	35.0	Bushels	4,830	7.80	37,674
2004	175	172	39.0	Bushels	6,708	5.40	36,223
2005	190	188	42.0	Bushels	7,896	5.20	41,059

ALL HAY
2003	-	1,850	1.99	Tons	3,680	113.00	417,760
2004	-	1,270	2.30	Tons	2,916	115.00	326,924
2005	-	1,650	1.59	Tons	2,625	115.00	282,450

ALFALFA HAY
2003	-	600	2.80	Tons	1,680	132.00	221,760
2004	-	470	2.80	Tons	1,316	139.00	182,924
2005	-	450	2.10	Tons	945	130.00	122,850

ALL OTHER HAY
2003	-	1,250	1.60	Tons	2,000	98.00	196,000
2004	-	800	2.00	Tons	1,600	89.00	142,400
2005	-	1,200	1.40	Tons	1,680	95.00	159,600

1/ Preliminary 2005 marketing year average price estimates are based on prices through November with an allowance for projected prices for the remainder of the marketing year. 2/ Not published in 2005. 3/ Yield in pounds per acre. Production is in thousands of cwt

JANUARY PRICES MIXED

Prices received by New York producers during January for selected commodities were mixed from a month earlier. The price of corn, hay and potatoes increased. The price of milk, eggs, and apples decreased. The price of oats remained unchanged. Many previous month prices were revised due to more complete sales information.

Grain corn, at $2.04 per bushel, increased 2 cents from December but decreased 27 cents from last year. Hay averaged $121.00 per ton, $4.00 more than December and $13.00 more than January 2005. Potatoes averaged $12.80 per hundredweight, 10 cents more than December and $5.05 more than January a year ago. Fresh market apple prices at the packinghouse door averaged 26.80 cents per pound this month, 20 cents less than December but $4.30 more than January 2005. Oats, at $1.44 per bushel, remained unchanged from December but 56 cents less than January 2005.

Dairy farmers in the Empire State received an average of $14.70 per hundredweight of milk sold during January, down 50 cents from December and $2.00 from January a year ago. Poultry producers received an average of 40 cents per dozen eggs sold, down 20 cents from December but up 1 cent from January 2005.

The preliminary All Farm Products Index of Prices Received by Farmers in January, at 112, based on 1990-92=100, decreased 3 points (2.6 percent) from December. The Crop Index is down 3 points (2.7 percent) and the Livestock Index also decreased 3 points (2.5 percent). Producers received lower commodity prices for lettuce, turkeys, eggs, and hogs. Higher prices were received for cattle, oranges, corn, and cotton. The overall index is also affected by the seasonal change based on a 3-year average mix of commodities a producer sells. Increased average marketings of cattle, soybeans, corn, and strawberries offset decreased marketings of grapes, tomatoes, dairy, and cotton.

Prices Received by Farmers 1/

Commodity	Unit	New York			United States
Commodity	Unit	Jan 2005	Dec 2005	Jan 2006	Jan 2005	Dec 2005	Jan 2006
		Dollars			Dollars

Corn	bu.	2.31	2.02	2.04	2.12	1.92	1.96
Oats	bu.	2.00	1.44	1.44	1.64	1.73	1.67
Wheat	bu.	1.72	3.41	3.20	3.43	3.54	3.48
Barley	bu.	2.10	0.00	0.00	2.41	2.49	2.41
Soybeans	bu.	5.16	5.52	5.47	5.57	5.77	5.51
Hay, baled	ton	108.00	117.00	121.00	87.80	92.00	91.20
Potatoes	cwt.	7.75	12.70	12.80	5.59	6.93	7.00
Apples, fresh market 2/	cwt.	22.50	27.00	26.80	21.60	26.50	26.00

Milk, wholesale	cwt.	16.70	15.20	14.70	15.90	14.80	14.50
Milk cows 3/	head	1,500.00	-	1,710.00	1,620.00	-	1,840.00
Eggs, table market	doz.	0.390	0.600	0.400	0.373	0.564	0.438
Slaughter cows	cwt.	48.30	43.10	4/	50.50	47.20	46.50
Steers and heifers	cwt.	71.60	69.50	4/	94.40	99.90	101.00
All slaughter cattle	cwt.	49.80	43.10	4/	89.40	93.60	94.40
Calves	cwt.	115.70	145.10	4/	125.00	134.00	137.00
Hogs	cwt.	49.40	40.60	4/	53.20	44.30	41.60
Lambs	cwt.	114.80	104.30	4/	114.00	102.00	4/

Index (1990-92=100)
Prices received					111	115	112
Prices paid					137	143	145
Ratio prices received to prices paid					81	80	77
1/ Mid-month price for current month. Average price for entire month shown for previous periods. 2/ New York price is equivalent packinghouse door. 3/ Milk cow prices published quarterly. 4/ Price available next month.

Commercial Livestock Slaughter, January 1/

Species	Number Slaughtered				Total Live Weight
	New York		United States		New York		United States
	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006
	1,000 head		1,000 head		Million pounds		Million pounds

Cattle	4.2	2.8	2,690.3	2,665.9	4.7	3.2	3,410.3	3,414.0
Calves	11.3	10.6	74.6	60.1	1.0	2.3	24.9	22.2
Hogs	3.1	2.9	9,249.9	9,233.3	.8	.6	2,496.2	2,510.2
Sheep and lambs	3.3	3.5	242.1	231.0	.2	.3	33.8	32.9

1/ Slaughter in federal and non-federal inspected plants. Excludes farm slaughter.

JANUARY MILK PRODUCTION UP 4 PERCENT

New York dairy herds produced 1 billion pounds of milk during January. A 4 percent increase in milk production per cow resulted in the increased total milk production compared to last year. The number of milk cows averaged 651,000 head, up 1,000 head from January of the previous year. Milk per cow averaged 1,595 pounds, up 60 pounds from the January 2005 rate.

Milk production in the 23 major States during January totaled 14.0 billion pounds, up 5.4 percent from January 2005. Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,711 pounds for January, 68 pounds above January 2005.The number of cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.19 million head, 103,000 head more than January 2005, and 11,000 head more than December 2005.

Dairy Briefs

Item	Unit	New York			23 Major States
Item	Unit	Jan 2005	Dec 2005	Jan. 2006	Jan 2005	Dec 2005	Jan. 2006

Milk Production	Mil. lb.	998	1,004	1,038	13,287	13,599	14,011
Milk per cow	Lb.	1,535	1,545	1,595	1,643	1,663	1,711
No. of milk cows	Thou. hd.	650	650	651	8,087	8,179	8,190

Dairy Products Manufactured

Item	Unit	New York			United States
Item	Unit	Dec 2005	Nov 2004	Dec 2005	Dec. 2004	Nov. 2005	Dec 2005

Butter	Thou. lb.	1,696	1,193	1,662	118,808	111,035	125,799
American cheese	Thou. lb.	5,688	4,946	5,702	324,236	310,171	325,220
Mozzarella cheese	Thou. lb.	15,118	14,736	15,239	258,281	252,049	266,961
Yogurt, plain and flavored	Thou. lb.	18,374	16,818	16,317	213,766	207,380	214,809
Ice cream, hard	Thou. gal.	1,415	1,671	1,466	55,193	61,819	55,945

NEW YORK EGG PRODUCTION UP 3 PERCENT IN DECEMBER

Egg production on New York farms totaled 105 million eggs in December 2005, up 3 percent from last year. The number of hens and pullets of laying age, at 4.27 million, was up 3 percent from December 2004, and the rate of lay increased slightly to 24.61 eggs per layer.

U.S. egg production totaled 7.79 billion during December 2005, up 1 percent from last year. An indication of future egg supply, egg-type chicks hatched during December 2005 totaled 36.2 million, down 3 percent from December 2004. Eggs in incubators totaled 35.5 million on January 1, 2006, up 3 percent from a year ago.

Poultry Briefs

Item	Unit	Dec 2004	Nov 2005	Dec 2005	Dec 2004	Nov 2005	Dec 2005
		New York			United States

Number of layers	Thou.	4,147	4,163	4,267	345,306	346,145	348,300
Eggs per layer	No.	24.60	23.78	24.61	22.34	21.76	22.37
Eggs produced	Mil.	102	99	105	7,728	7,533	7,791

		North and South Atlantic States			United States

Chicks hatched, egg-type	Thou.	2/	2/	2/	37,332	32,752	36,224
Chicks hatched, broiler type	Thou.	2/	2/	2/	793,090	747,335	807,848
Chicken eggs in incubators 1/
Egg-type	Thou.	9,526	9,955	10,535	34,456	34,704	35,547
Broiler-type	Thou.	249,843	250,390	253,837	650,680	657,579	660,613

1/ First day of following month. 2/ Data not published to avoid disclosing individual operations.