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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:  Joseph Morse
Tuesday, April 20, 2010

www.nass.usda.gov/ny

                    MARCH MILK PRODUCTION INCREASED


New York dairy herds produced 1,061 million pounds of milk during March according to 
Stephen Ropel, Director of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, New York 
Field office.  Milk cows declined while production per cow was up from the previous year 
resulting in a 0.2 percent increase in milk production compared to March 2009.  The 
number of milk cows averaged 610,000 head, down 13,000 head from March of the 
previous year.  Milk per cow averaged 1,740 pounds, up 40 pounds from the March 2009 
rate.

Dairy farmers in the Empire State received an average of $16.00 per hundredweight of 
milk sold during March, down 80 cents from February but $4.50 more than March a year 
ago. 

 Milk production in the 23 major States during March totaled 15.4 billion pounds, up 0.9 
percent from March 2009. February revised production at 13.7 billion pounds, was up 0.3 
percent from February 2009. The February revision represented an increase of 17 million 
pounds or 0.1 percent from last month's preliminary production estimate.     
  
 Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,846 pounds for March, 51 pounds 
above March 2009.  The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.32 
million head, 162,000 head less than March 2009, but 1,000 head more than February 
2010.

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4-20-10