USDA-NY-NASS Crop & Livestock Report December 2007

E-mail: nass-ny@nass.usda.gov
(518) 457-5570

NEW YORK CROP AND LIVESTOCK REPORT
December 2007

Monthly
No. 973-12-07

NEW YORK AND U.S. FALL POTATO PRODUCTION UP

New York production of fall potatoes for 2006 is estimated at 5.70 million hundredweight (cwt.) , up 9 percent from a year ago.

U.S. production of fall potatoes for 2006 is forecast at 391 million cwt, up 2 percent from last year. Area harvested, at 976,900 acres, is virtually unchanged from the July estimate but 3 percent above last year. The average yield is forecast at 400 cwt per acre, 3 cwt below last year's record high.

Western States production is forecast at 265 million cwt, down 2 percent from last year. Area harvested, at 608,000 acres, increased 1 percent from last year but the average yield of 436 cwt per acre is down 13 cwt from 2005. Central States production is forecast at 98.5 million cwt, up 11 percent from last year. Harvested area, at 277,400 acres, is up 7 percent, while average yields, at 355 cwt per acre, are up 11 cwt from a year ago.

Eastern States production is forecast at 27.4 million cwt, up 13 percent from last year. Area for harvest totaled 91,500 acres, 1 percent above last year, while the average yield, at 299 cwt per acre, is up 31 cwt from last season. Maine production is forecast at 18.0 million cwt, 16 percent above 2005. Excellent growing and harvesting conditions resulted in a high yielding, high quality crop. Yield is expected to be 310 cwt per acre. If realized, this will match the record high yield set in 2004.

Fall Potato Acreage, Yield and Production,
New York and United States, 2005-2007

Crop	Acres for harvest			Yield per acre			Production
Crop	2005	2006	2007	2005	2006	2007	2005	2006	2007
	1,000 acres			Cwt.			1,000 cwt.

New York	20.1	19.0	18.3	260	300	285	5,226	5,700	5,216

United States
Total Fall States	949.0	983.0	997.6	309	393	397	423,926	441,348	448,866

NEW YORK DRY BEAN PRODUCTION DOWN

Dry bean production in New York for the 2007 crop totaled 153,000 hundredweight (cwt), down 36 percent from last year’s production. Harvested acreage, at 16,500 acres was down 8 percent from last year. Yields averaged 930 pounds per acre compared with 1,330 pounds per acre in 2006.

Light red kidney bean production in the state is estimated at 58,000 cwt. compared with 88,000 cwt. in 2006. Production came from 7,300 acres harvested. Light red kidney beans accounted for 38 percent of the total dry bean production in New York. Dark red kidney bean production is estimated at 14,000 cwt. compared with 15,000 cwt. in 2006. Black turtle bean production is set at 69,000 cwt., down 45 percent from the 126,000 cwt. produced a year earlier. Production of all other varieties totaled 12,000 cwt, up 20 percent from a year ago.

U.S. dry edible bean production is forecast at 25.2 million cwt for 2007, virtually unchanged from the October forecast but 4 percent above the revised 2006 production. Harvested acreage is forecast at 1.48 million acres, 1 percent above the last forecast but 4 percent below last year's revised acreage. The average U.S. yield is forecast at 1,708 pounds per acre, a decrease of 19 pounds from the October forecast but 131 pounds above the revised 2006 yield. Production is down in 12 of the 18 producing States. Production in North Dakota is forecast at 10.6 million cwt, 38 percent above 2006. In Michigan, production is forecast at 3.02 million cwt, 26 percent below last year. Nebraska growers produced 2.44 million cwt of dry beans, 11 percent less than last year.

Dry Bean Production by Class, New York and United States, 2005-2007

Class	New York			United States
	2005	2006	2007	2005		2006		2007
	Thousand bags 1/			Thousand bags 1/

Light Red Kidney	134	88	58	1,103	742		760
Dark Red Kidney	10	15	14	1,047	823		656
Black	128	126	69	1,798	2,661		2,717
All Other	10	10	12	22,070	20,021		21,102

TOTAL	282	239	153	26,772	24,247		25,235

1/ 100 lb. bag (cleaned basis).

U.S. HIRED WORKERS UP 3 PERCENT
WAGE RATES UP 4 PERCENT FROM A YEAR AGO

There were 1,122,000 hired workers on the Nation’s farms and ranches during the week of October 7-13, 2007, up 3 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 806,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 316,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.33 per hour during the October 2007 reference week, up 37 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $9.62 per hour, up 36 cents from last October, while livestock workers earned $9.98 per hour compared with $9.42 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $9.72 per hour, was up 42 cents from last year.

Hired Workers on Farms and Wage Rates

Item	Northeast I 1/			United States
	Oct. 8-14, 2006	July 8-14, 2007	Oct. 7-13, 2007	Oct. 8-14, 2006		July 8-14, 2007		Oct. 7-13, 2007
	Thousand workers

All hired workers	37	39	34	800	843		806
Worked 150 days or more	27	25	23	595	596		590
Worked less than 150 days	10	14	11	205	247		216

	Hours worked per worker

All hired workers	40.9	41.6	39.8	41.9	41.4		42.1

	Dollars per hour

Field workers	9.80	9.58	9.96	9.26	9.24		9.12
Livestock workers	8.62	9.37	9.22	9.42	9.73		9.98
Field and livestock workers	9.42	9.51	9.70	9.30	9.37		9.72
All hired workers	10.20	10.00	10.35	9.96	9.99		10.33

1/ New York and New England States (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) are combined into Northeast 1 region. 2/ Revised.

NOVEMBER MILK PRICES INCREASED FROM OCTOBER

Prices received by New York producers for milk sold during November increased from a month earlier. The price of corn, wheat, hay and eggs also increased. The price of potatoes and apples decreased. Many previous month prices were revised due to more complete sales information.

Grain corn, at $2.78 per bushel, increased 19 cents from October and 73 cents from last year. Wheat price was $4.15, 55 cents above last month and $1.78 above last year. Hay averaged $131.00 per ton, $13.00 more than October and $22.00 more than November 2005. Potatoes, at $12.50 per hundredweight, decreased $1.80 from October and 20 cents from November last year. Fresh market apple prices at the packinghouse door averaged 33.20 cents per pound this month, 1.90 cents more than last month and 6.40 more than last year.

Dairy farmers in the Empire State received an average of $14.20 per hundredweight of milk sold during November, 10 cents more than October but $1.90 less than November a year ago. Poultry producers received an average of 69 cents per dozen eggs sold, up 32 cents from October and 18 cents more than last year.

The preliminary All Farm Products Index of Prices Received by Farmers in November, at 121 percent, based on 1990-92=100, increased 5 points (4.3 percent) from October. The Crop Index is up 10 points (8.7 percent) but the Livestock Index decreased 1 point (0.9 percent). Producers received higher commodity prices for corn, soybeans, eggs, and milk. Lower prices were received for cattle, tomatoes, oranges, and hogs. The overall index is also affected by the seasonal change based on a 3-year average mix of commodities producers sell. Increased average marketings of milk, cattle, cotton, and oranges offset decreased marketings of soybeans, potatoes, peanuts, and lettuce.

Prices Received by Farmers 1/

Commodity	Unit	New York			United States
Commodity	Unit	Nov 2006	Oct 2007	Nov 2007	Nov 2006	Oct 2007	Nov 2007
		Dollars			Dollars

Corn	bu.	2.75	3.67	3.65	2.88	3.29	3.49
Oats	bu.	1.71	2.21	2.05	2.05	2.44	2.35
Wheat	bu.	4.39	6.78	7.05	4.59	7.65	7.92
Barley	bu.	-	-	-	2.92	4.50	4.69
Soybeans	bu.	5.85	8.70	9.16	6.08	8.36	9.48
Hay, baled	ton	131.00	116.00	117.00	109.00	133.00	131.00
Potatoes	cwt.	12.50	11.70	12.30	6.59	5.83	6.35
Apples, fresh market 2/	cwt.	33.20	34.40	34.00	36.10	36.10	34.50

Milk, wholesale	cwt.	14.20	22.40	22.20	13.90	21.40	21.70
Milk cows 3/	head	-	1,930.00	-	-	2,020.00	-
Eggs, table market	doz.	0.690	0.820	1.250	0.677	0.802	1.180
Slaughter cows	cwt.	38.80	42.90	4/	43.60	46.60	43.60
Steers and heifers	cwt.	63.50	71.80	4/	90.00	96.40	95.40
All slaughter cattle	cwt.	40.30	92.40	4/	84.40	90.60	89.30
Calves	cwt.	90.50	95.90	4/	119.00	122.00	118.00
Hogs	cwt.	36.10	32.30	4/	44.90	42.10	38.50
Lambs	cwt.	89.60	85.70	4/	95.60	97.00	4/

Index (1990-92=100)
Prices received					119	141	143
Prices paid					148	160	161
Ratio prices received to prices paid					80	88	89

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, October 1/

Species	Number Slaughtered				Total Live Weight
	New York		United States		New York		United States
	2006	2007	2006	2007	2006	2007	2006	2007
	1,000 head		1,000 head		Million pounds		Million pounds

Cattle	2.9	3.1	2,858.1	3,099.6	3.2	3.4	3,676.9	4,015.1
Calves	10.1	16.9	63.6	65.2	1.5	1.7	21.9	18.6
Hogs	2.9	3.1	9,632.0	10,654.4	.6	.6	2,589.2	2,870.1
Sheep & lambs	2.9	3.2	237.3	248.0	.2	.3	31.1	32.7

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

NOVEMBER MILK PRODUCTION UP

New York dairy herds produced 986 million pounds of milk during. Milk per cow increased from the previous year resulting in a 4 percent increase in milk production compared to November 2006. The number of milk cows averaged 626 thousand head, unchanged from November of the previous year. Milk per cow averaged 1,575 pounds, up 60 pounds from the November 2006 rate.

Milk production in the 23 major States during November totaled 13.8 billion pounds, up 3.8 percent from November 2006. October production, unrevised at 14.2 billion pounds, was up 4.1 percent from October 2006. Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,654 pounds for November, 40 pounds above November 2006. The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.36 million head, 101,000 head more than November 2006, and 8,000 head more than October 2007.

Dairy Briefs

Item	Unit	New York			23 Major States
Item	Unit	Nov 2006	Oct 2007	Nov 2007	Nov 2006	Oct 2007	Nov 2007

Milk Production	Mil. lb.	948	1,020	986	13,332	14,190	13,833
Milk per cow	Lb.	1,515	1,630	1,575	1,614	1,699	1,654
No. of milk cows	Thou. hd.	626	628	626	8,260	8,353	8,361

Dairy Products Manufactured

Item	Unit	New York			United States
Item	Unit	Oct 2006	Sep 2007	Oct 2007	Oct 2006	Sep 2007	Oct 2007

Butter	Thou. lb.	1,060	785	1,038	119,133	111,774	129,958
American cheese	Thou. lb.	N/A	N/A	N/A	320,925	301,004	324,915
Mozzarella cheese	Thou. lb.	15,700	16,265	15,325	266,315	263,728	273,692
Yogurt, plain and flavored	Thou. lb.	20,044	18,716	18,947	273,415	315,993	296,678
Ice cream, hard	Thou. gal.	2,146	2,019	2,506	66,486	69,189	69,389

NEW YORK EGG PRODUCTION UP 10 PERCENT IN OCTOBER

Egg production on New York farms totaled 103 million eggs in October 2007, up 10 percent from last year. The number of hens and pullets of laying age, at 4.24 million, increased 2 percent from October 2006 and the rate of lay increased 7 percent to 2,428 eggs per 100 layers.

U.S. egg production totaled 7.70 billion during October 2007, up slightly from last year. Production included 6.57 billion table eggs, and 1.13 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.06 billion were broiler-type and 67 million were egg-type. The total number of layers during October 2007 averaged 341 million, down 1 percent from last year. October egg production per 100 layers was 2,253 eggs, up 1 percent from October 2006.

Poultry Briefs

Item	Unit	Oct 2006	Sep 2007	Oct 2007	Oct 2006	Sep 2007	Oct 2007
		New York			United States

Egg type layers 1/	Thou.	2/	2/	2/	288,029	281,035	282,501

All layers	Thou.	4,137	4,208	4,242	344,538	339,841	341,490
Eggs per layer	No.	22.72	23.53	24.28	22.28	21.69	22.53
Eggs produced	Mil.	94	99	103	7,678	7,370	7,695

		North and South Atlantic States			United States

Chicks hatched, egg-type	Thou.	2/	2/	2/	36,162	35,270	35,767
Chicks hatched, broiler type	Thou.	2/	2/	2/	772,942	784,155	795,371
Chicken eggs in incubators
Egg-type 1/	Thou.	9,764	9,872	9,542	31,562	33,438	34,450
Broiler-type 1/	Thou.	241,722	254,405	251,964	607,694	646,974	633,571

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

This report, in addition to many others, is available free of charge
at our website at www.nass.usda.gov/ny/

The USDA, NASS New York Field Office thanks the agricultural businesses and farm operators who respond to our surveys. This complimentary report is being sent to those asking for the survey results during the survey interview.