E-mail: nass-ny@nass.usda.gov (518) 457-5570 NEW YORK CROP AND LIVESTOCK REPORT December 2010 Monthly No. 973-12-10 NEW YORK FALL POTATO PRODUCTION DOWN New York production of fall potatoes for 2010 is estimated at a record low 4.83 million hundredweight (cwt.), down 2 percent from a year ago. Harvested acreage, at a record low 16,100 is unchanged from the November forecast but 400 acres less than last year. The average yield, forecast at 300 cwt per acre, is down 15 cwt from November’s forecast and the same as last year’s yield. U.S. production of fall potatoes for 2010 is forecast at 351 million cwt., down 3 percent from the November forecast and 8 percent from last year. Area harvested, at 882,800 acres, is slightly above the November forecast but 4 percent below the 2009 estimate. The average yield, forecast at 409 cwt. per acre, is down 1 cwt. from November’s forecast and down 20 cwt from last year. Idaho's yield is forecast at 389 cwt. per acre. Due to cool, wet spring weather, emergence lagged about ten to fourteen days behind the previous year and the five year average. Production in Idaho, at 114 million cwt, is down 14 percent from last year. Harvested acreage is the lowest since 1980. In Colorado, growing conditions were generally favorable in the San Luis Valley. Oregon’s crop was delayed due to wet conditions. Acreage in California was significantly lower due to the water shortage stemming from drought conditions. Yields were also adversely affected by a cool spring and fall rains. In North Dakota, crop condition was rated mostly good to excellent throughout the growing season. Harvest progressed ahead of normal and was virtually complete by mid-October. Wisconsin growers reported average crop conditions and below normal crop size. In Maine, potato development was ahead of schedule by mid-June. Field conditions were reported to be excellent, with many growers beginning harvest in early September. In eastern Washington, below normal temperatures aided plant growth. In the western area, crop progress slowed due to surplus rainfall. Fall Potato Acreage, Yield and Production, New York and United States, 2008-2010 Acres for harvest Yield per acre Production Crop 2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010 1,000 acres Cwt. 1,000 cwt. New York 17.8 16.5 16.1 320 300 300 5,696 4,950 4,830 United States Total Fall 922.0 917.2 882.8 411 429 409 378,588 393,544 360,850 States NEW YORK DRY BEAN YIELD ESTIMATED AT RECORD HIGH Dry bean yields in New York for the 2010 crop averaged a record high 1,970 pounds per acre, up 730 pounds per acre from last year according to King Whetstone, Director of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, New York office. Harvested acreage, at 14,800 acres was down 5 percent from last year, and is a record low. Dry bean production totaled 292,000 hundredweight (cwt.), up 51 percent from last year’s record low production. Light red kidney bean production in the state is estimated at 98,000 cwt. compared with 51,000 cwt. in 2009. Production came from 5,300 acres harvested. Light red kidney beans accounted for 34 percent of the total dry bean production in New York. Dark red kidney bean production is estimated at 32,000 cwt. compared with 31,000 cwt. in 2009. Black turtle bean production is set at 130,000 cwt., up 34 percent from the 97,000 cwt. produced a year earlier. Production of all other varieties totaled 32,000 cwt, up 129 percent from a year ago. U.S. dry edible bean production is forecast at 31.3 million cwt. for 2010, up 23 percent from 2009. Planted area is forecast at 1.91 million acres, up 23 percent from last year. Harvested area is forecast at 1.83 million acres, 25 percent above the previous year. The average U.S. yield is forecast at 1,706 pounds per acre, a decrease of 31 pounds from 2009. Production is expected to be higher in 12 of the 17 States in the dry bean program in 2010. The top five producing States all showed increased production from last season. Dry Bean Production by Class, New York and United States, 2008-2010 Class New York United States 2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010 Thousand bags 1/ Thousand bags 1/ Light Red 141 51 98 1,023 967 960 Kidney Dark Red 39 31 32 992 850 817 Kidney Black 133 97 130 2,923 3,010 4,654 All Other 11 14 32 20,620 20,600 24,864 TOTAL 324 193 292 25,558 25,427 31,295 1/ 100 lb. bag (cleaned basis). U.S. HIRED WORKERS UP 4 PERCENT WAGE RATES UP 2 PERCENT FROM A YEAR AGO There were 1,157,000 hired workers on the Nation’s farms and ranches during the week of October 10-16, 2010, up 4 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 826,000 were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 331,000 workers. Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $11.13 per hour during the October 2010 reference week, up 20 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $10.49 per hour, up 27 cents from last October, while livestock workers earned $10.27 per hour compared with $10.28 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $10.43 per hour, was up 19 cents from last year. Hired Workers on Farms and Wage Rates Northeast I 1/ United States Oct. July Oct. Oct. July Oct. Item 11-17 11-17 10-16 11-17 11-17 10-16, 2009 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 Thousand workers All hired workers 41 38 39 829 885 826 Worked 150 days 28 25 27 605 627 588 or more Worked less than 13 13 12 224 258 238 150 days Hours worked per worker All hired workers 38.5 43.7 44.3 39.0 40.7 41.7 Dollars per hour Field workers 9.96 9.81 10.95 10.22 10.09 10.49 Livestock workers 9.93 9.59 10.10 10.28 10.15 10.27 Field and livestock 9.95 9.73 10.65 10.24 10.11 10.43 workers All hired workers 10.41 10.35 11.17 10.93 10.79 11.13 1/New York and New England States (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) are combined into Northeast 1 region. 2 NOVEMBER MILK PRICES DECREASED FROM OCTOBER Prices received by New York producers for milk sold during November were down from a month earlier, according to King Whetstone, Director of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, New York Field Office. The price of potatoes and apples decreased while corn increased. The price of hay was unchanged. Many previous month prices were revised due to more complete sales information. Grain corn, at $5.18 per bushel, was up 18 cents from October and increased $1.38 from last year. Hay averaged $104.00 per ton, unchanged from October but down $24 from November 2009. Potatoes averaged $13.40 per cwt, down 10 cents from October but up $1.20 from last year. Apples averaged $26.80 per cwt, down $2.40 from October but up $1.20 from last year. Dairy farmers in the Empire State received an average of $19.30 per hundredweight of milk sold during November, down 20 cents from October but $3.30 more than November a year ago. The preliminary All Farm Products Index of Prices Received by Farmers in November, at 159 percent, based on 1990-1992=100, increased 4 points (2.6 percent) from October. The Crop Index is up 9 points (5.4 percent) and the Livestock Index increased 1 point (0.7 percent). Producers received higher prices for soybeans, corn, lettuce, and eggs and lower prices for hogs, milk, apples, and cucumbers. In addition to prices, the overall index is also affected by the seasonal change based on a 3-year average mix of commodities producers sell. Increased monthly marketings of milk, cotton, cattle, and corn offset decreased marketings of soybeans, potatoes, peanuts, and lettuce. Prices Received by Farmers 1/ New York United States Nov Oct Nov Nov Oct Nov Commodity Unit 2009 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 Dollars Dollars Corn bu. 3.80 5.00 5.18 3.65 4.32 4.59 Oats bu. - - - 2.02 2.37 2.57 Wheat bu. - 6.47 - 4.79 5.87 6.21 Barley bu. - - - 4.46 3.75 3.76 Soybeans bu. - - - 9.53 10.20 11.20 Hay, baled ton 128.00 104.00 104.00 105.00 113.00 111.00 Potatoes cwt. 12.20 13.50 13.40 7.22 6.77 7.65 Apples, fresh market 2/ cwt. 25.60 29.20 26.80 33.30 34.90 32.10 Milk, wholesale cwt. 16.00 19.50 19.30 15.40 18.50 17.90 Milk cows 3/ head - 1,300.00 - - 1,330.00 - Eggs, table market doz. - - - 0.884 0.654 1.020 Slaughter cows cwt. 39.90 48.60 4/ 41.70 52.70 51.90 Steers and heifers cwt. 72.80 77.20 4/ 85.40 98.80100.00 All slaughter cattle cwt. 44.30 52.10 4/ 79.60 93.10 94.10 Calves cwt. 72.90 58.80 4/ 104.00 120.00 122.00 Hogs cwt. 41.40 51.60 4/ 40.30 53.30 47.20 Lambs cwt. 82.60 110.00 4/ 97.70 138.00 4/ Index (1990-92=100) Prices received 136 155 159 Prices paid 178 186 188 Ratio prices received to prices paid 76 83 85 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/ Number Slaughtered Total Live Weight Species New York United States New York United States 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 1,000 head 1,000 head Million pounds Million pounds Cattle 3.2 3.0 2,886.1 2,865.9 3.7 3.3 3,772.9 3,705.9 Calves 10.2 10.1 83.5 71.4 .9 1.0 20.6 19.2 Hogs 2.5 2.6 10,319.2 9,733.5 .5 .5 2,800.0 2,685.1 Sheep & Lambs 3.1 3.4 218.7 202.3 .3 .3 28.6 26.3 1/ Slaughter in federal and non-federal inspected plants. Excludes farm slaughter. 3 NOVEMBER MILK PRODUCTION New York dairy herds produced 1.03 billion pounds of milk during November. Milk cows were unchanged while production per cow was up from the previous year resulting in a 4.6 percent increase in milk production compared to November 2009. The number of milk cows averaged 611,000 head, unchanged from November of the previous year. Milk per cow averaged 1,680 pounds, up 75 pounds from the November 2009 rate. Milk production in the 23 major States during November totaled 14.4 billion pounds, up 3.1 percent from November 2009. October production, unrevised at 14.8 billion pounds, was up 3.3 percent from October 2009. Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,722 pounds for November, 41 pounds above November 2009. The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.37 million head, 57,000 head more than November 2009, but unchanged from October 2010. Dairy Briefs New York 23 Major States Item Unit Nov Oct Nov Nov Oct Nov 2009 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 Milk Production Mil. lb. 981 1,054 1,026 13,979 14,784 14,411 Milk per cow Lb. 1,605 1,725 1,680 1,681 1,766 1,722 No. of milk cows Thou hd. 611 611 611 8,314 8,371 8,371 Dairy Products Manufactured New York United States Item Unit Oct Sep Oct Oct Sep Oct 2009 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 Thou. Butter lb. N/A N/A N/A 113,084 113,790 121,559 Thou. American cheese lb. N/A N/A N/A 349,403 353,837 363,666 Thou. Mozzarella cheese lb. 15,608 15,637 15,677 278,106 291,023 291,769 Yogurt, plain and Thou. flavored lb. N/A N/A N/A 309,431 389,217 351,220 Thou. Ice cream, hard gal. 2,754 N/A N/A 68,602 74,089 61,264 NEW YORK EGG PRODUCTION DOWN 1 PERCENT IN OCTOBER Egg production on New York farms totaled 100 million eggs in October, down 1 percent from last year. The number of hens and pullets of laying age, at 3.98 million, decreased 2 percent from October 2009 but the rate of lay increased 1 percent to 2,511 eggs per 100 layers. United States egg production totaled 7.68 billion during October 2010, down slightly from last year. Production included 6.60 billion table eggs, and 1.08 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.01 billion were broiler-type and 71 million were egg-type. The total number of layers during October 2010 averaged 336 million, up slightly from last year. October egg production per 100 layers was 2,285 eggs, down slightly from October 2009. Poultry Briefs Oct Sep Oct Oct Sep Oct Item Unit 2009 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 New York United States Egg type layers Thou. 2/ 2/ 2/ 280,554 281,085 279,012 All layers Thou. 4,066 3,949 3,983 335,819 337,649 335,846 Eggs per 100 layers No. 2,484 2,380 2,511 2,292 2,218 2,285 Eggs produced Mil. 101 94 100 7,696 7,488 7,675 North and South Atlantic United States States Chicks hatched, egg-type Thou. 2/ 2/ 2/ 37,566 37,023 41,263 Chicks hatched, broiler type Thou. 2/ 2/ 2/ 730,698 798,529 766,978 Chicken eggs in incubators Egg-type 1/ Thou. 8,419 10,281 9,842 34,541 39,427 38,646 Broiler-type 1/ Thou. 227,977 240,926 242,747 579,357 621,928 618,051 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.