New York Crop and Livestock Report March 2005

Annual milk production in the Empire State during 2004 totaled 11.7 billion pounds, down slightly from 12 billion in 2003. The annual average number of milk cows, at 655,000, was down 2 percent from a year earlier. Output per cow decreased by 26 pounds to 17,786 pounds per cow.

U.S. milk production for 2004 totaled 170.8 billion pounds, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier. The output per cow, at 18,957, was 197 pounds above the 2003 rate. The average number of milk cows during 2004 was 9.01 million, down 0.7 percent from the previous year.

California, with 36.5 billion pounds, remained the leading milk producer in 2004, followed by Wisconsin with 22.1 billion, New York with 11.7 billion, Pennsylvania with 10.1 billion, and Idaho with 9.1 billion. These five states produced 52 percent of the total U.S. milk output.

New York trout producers sold a total of 128,000 pounds of trout valued at $478,000 during the 12 months ending December 31, 2004. This production, which includes food-size fish, stockers, and fingerlings, was down 43 percent from a year ago.

The 2004 output included 87,000 pounds of food-size trout averaging $3.01 per pound in value, 38,000 pounds of stocker trout averaging $4.70 per pound, and 3,000 pounds of fingerlings averaging $332.00 per 1,000 fish. Food-size fish averaged 1.0 pounds in weight, while stockers averaged . 40 pounds. Total weight of food-size trout sold was down 49 percent from 2003. Total weight of stocker trout was down 28 percent.

Month	Milk Cows on Farms 1/			Milk Production per Cow			Total Milk Production
Month	2002	2003	2004	2002	2003	2004	2002	2003	2004
	1,000			Pounds			Million pounds
January	674	675	658	1,530	1,515	1,490	1,031	1,023	980
February	672	677	660	1,405	1,400	1,400	944	948	924
March	675	680	660	1,565	1,540	1,510	1,056	1,047	997
April	680	679	658	1,520	1,505	1,500	1,034	1,022	987
May	680	677	655	1,605	1,570	1,580	1,091	1,063	1,035
June	680	675	656	1,535	1,500	1,490	1,044	1,013	977
July	678	673	656	1,540	1,515	1,520	1,044	1,020	997
August	673	671	654	1,510	1,475	1,500	1,016	990	981
September	672	668	654	1,465	1,430	1,420	984	955	929
October	672	665	653	1,495	1,455	1,470	1,005	968	960
November	673	660	651	1,420	1,410	1,410	956	931	918
December	675	657	650	1,500	1,480	1,485	1,013	972	965
ANNUAL	675	671	655	18,101	17,812	17,786	12,218	11,952	11,650

There were 749,000 hired workers on the Nation’s farms and ranches during the week of January 9-15, 2005. There were 574,000 workers hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 175,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $9.81 per hour during the January 2005 reference week, up 40 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $8.73 per hour, up 34 cents. Livestock workers earned $9.19 per hour compared with $8.83 a year earlier.

Item	Northeast I 1/			United States
Item	Jan. 11-17, 2004	Oct. 10-16, 2004	Jan. 9-15, 2005	Jan. 11-17, 2004 2/	Oct. 10-16, 2004 2/	Jan. 9-15, 2005
	1,000 workers

All hired workers	20	45	23	662	851	574
Worked 150 days or more	18	33	20	549	606	478
Worked less than 150 days	2	12	3	113	245	96

	Hours worked per worker

All hired workers	38.8	36.8	36.6	38.1	40.5	36.8

	Dollars per hour

Field workers	9.72	9.37	9.47	8.39	8.62	8.73
Livestock workers	8.56	8.64	9.17	8.83	8.91	9.19
Field and livestock workers	9.10	9.10	9.32	8.55	8.69	8.91
All hired workers	10.10	9.81	10.37	9.41	9.32	9.81

Honey production from beekeepers with five or more hives in New York totaled 4.29 million pounds during 2004. This total is down 11 percent from the 2003 production of 4.82 million pounds.

The 2004 production was extracted from 64,000 colonies, down 4 percent from the 67,000 colonies in 2003. Honey yield per colony averaged 67 pounds, 7 percent below the 2003 yield. Honey stocks on hand across the State as of December 15, 2004 totaled 1.89 million pounds, an increase of 15 percent from the 1.64 million pounds a year earlier.

Prices received by beekeepers in New York averaged 133.0 cents per pound for all methods of sale during 2004, 7 percent less than the 2003 average price of 140.0 cents. Value of honey production for the State in 2004 totaled $5.70 million, compared with $6.75 million in 2003.,,United States honey production in 2004 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 184 million pounds, up 1 percent from 2003. There were 2.56 million colonies producing honey in 2004, down 2 percent from 2003. Yield per colony averaged 71.8 pounds, up 3 percent from the 69.9 pounds in 2003.

Honey prices decreased during 2004 to 108.5 cents, down 22 percent from 138.7 cents in 2003. The value of the 2004 U.S. honey crop is estimated at $202 million. Mid-December stocks of honey for sale amounted to 61.2 million pounds, 50 percent more than the 40.8 million pounds on hand in December 15, 2003.

Item	Unit	New York			United States
Item	Unit	2002	2003	2004	2002	2003	2004
Colonies of bees	1,000	60	67	64	2,574	2,599	2,556
Yield per colony	Pounds	98	72	67	66.7	70.0	71.8
Honey production	1,000 lb.	5,880	4,824	4,288	171,718	181,727	183,582
Price per pound	Dollars	1.25	1.36	1.33	1.33	1.39	1.08
Total value	1,000 $ .	7,350	6,561	5,703	221,338	253,106	201,790
Stocks on December 15	1,000 lb.	2,470	1,640	1,887	39,393	40,785	61,222

Prices received by New York producers during February for selected commodities increased from a month earlier. The price of corn, wheat, barley, soybeans, potatoes and apples increased. Prices for oats, milk, and eggs declined. The price of hay did not change. Many previous month prices were revised due to more complete sales information.

Grain corn averaged $2.32 per bushel during February, 1 cent more than January but 50 cents less than a year earlier. Oats sold for an average of $1.92 during February, 8 cents below January and $1.44 lower than February 2004. Wheat, at $2.27 per bushel, was 55 cents more than a month earlier but 76 cents less than February a year ago. Barley returned an average of $2.68 per bushel, 58 cents above January. Soybeans averaged $5.65 per bushel, up 49 cents from January but $3.50 below February 2004. Hay, at $108.00 per ton, was unchanged from January but down $12.00 from a year ago. Potatoes averaged $7.85 per hundredweight (cwt.), up 10 cents from January but down $1.05 from February 2004. Fresh market apple prices at the packinghouse door averaged 22.7 cents per pound, up 0.4 cent from January and $1.00 from February 2004.

Dairy farmers in the Empire State received an average of $15.70 per hundredweight of milk sold during February, down $1.00 from January but up $1.40 from February a year ago. Poultry producers received an average of 37 cents per dozen eggs sold, down 2 cents from January and down 44.0 cents from February 2004.

The preliminary All Farm Products Index of Prices Received by Farmers in February, at 113, based on 1990-92=100, is 2 points (1.8 percent) above the January Index. The Crop Index is up 5 points (5.0 percent) while the Livestock Index is down 1 point (0.8 percent). Producers received higher prices for tomatoes, oranges, broccoli, and celery. Lower prices were received for corn, dairy, hogs, and soybeans. The seasonal change in the mix of commodities farmers sell, based on the past 3-year average, also affects the overall index. Increased average marketings of dairy, cattle, broilers, and strawberries offset decreased marketings of corn, soybeans, tobacco, and wheat.