=========================================================== New England Agricultural Statistics Service - - - a field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service United States Department of Agriculture Aubrey R. Davis, Director Phone: (603) 224-9639 22 Bridge St, 3rd Floor Fax: (603) 225-1434 PO Box 1444 Internet: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ Concord, NH 03302-1444 E-Mail: nass.nh@nass.usda.gov =========================================================== AG REVIEW FEBRUARY 2005 The following is an abbreviated version of the report. The entire document is available as a PDF file on the Internet through: http://www.nass.usda.gov/nh/ =========================================================== Volume 25, Number 2 March 8, 2005 A special "THANK YOU" goes to New England producers and agri-businesses who have helped us by completing surveys via mail, telephone or personal interviews. This issue contains the results of monthly and quarterly surveys including the January 2005 Agricultural Labor Survey, the January 2005 Cattle, Sheep and Goat Surveys, the December 2004 Hog Report, and the monthly Potato Stocks and Prices Surveys. In This Issue: Cattle: Inventory and Value Chickens: Inventory, Value, Layers and Eggs Dairy Products Farms: Number and Land in Farms Field Crops: Barley, Corn, Hay, Oats, and Tobacco Hogs: Inventory and Value Labor: Workers, Hours and Wage Rates Milk: Number of Cows, Production, and Price Potatoes: Stocks and Prices Sheep & Goats: Inventory and Value FIELD CROP VALUES: New England's dry hay crop was valued at $148 million in 2004, an increase of five percent from the previous year's value. Farmers received on average $131 per ton for baled hay, an increase of eight dollars per ton from a year earlier. The value of New England's corn silage crop totaled $101 million in 2004, an increase of eight percent from the previous year's value. Maine 2004 crop potato prices are expected to average $6.45 per cwt statewide, up $0.40 per cwt from 2003. Final potato price and value of sales estimates will be available in September 2005, after the 2004 crop is marketed. Preliminary price estimates placed the value of broadleaf tobacco in the Connecticut River Valley at $22 million in 2004, 81 percent above the previous year's crop value due to increases in both pounds marketed and prices received. POTATO STOCKS: Maine potato stocks on hand February 1, 2005, totaled 11.1 million cwt (hundredweight), six percent above 2004's February 1 holdings. Disappearance to February 1 in the state totaled 8.1 million cwt, compared with 6.5 million cwt moved a year earlier. Storage on February 1 accounted for 58 percent of Maine's total production, compared with the previous five-year average of 59 percent. Of the stocks on hand February 1, 2005, three percent were reds, 45 percent were round whites, one percent were long whites, and 51 percent were russets. The 15 major potato states held 204 million cwt of potatoes in storage February 1, 2005, up two percent from last year and three percent above 2003. Potatoes in storage account for 51 percent of the 2004 fall storage states' production, one percentage point above last year. Stocks by type show a smaller percentage of reds and round whites but a larger percentage of russets than a year ago. Disappearance of 199 million cwt of potatoes is down two percent from last year and four percent below two years ago. Shrink and loss, at 22.5 million cwt so far this season, is up 10 percent from both last year and the same date in 2003. Processors in the 9 major states used 101 million cwt of potatoes this season, down one percent from a year ago and six percent below two years ago. ANNUAL CHICKENS: As of December 1, 2004, New England (excluding Rhode Island) had a total inventory of 8.7 million chickens, a decrease of 13 percent from the previous year's inventory. The majority of inventory consisted of egg-laying hens (layers), accounting for 6.3 million birds, or 73 percent. Maine was the largest contributor to New England's chicken inventory, accounting for 49 percent of the total birds and 43 percent of layers. The total value of inventory of all chickens within the five States was placed at $22.5 million in 2004, down 13 percent from 2003. These totals do not include chickens of meat-type strains (broilers) raised for commercial meat production. CATTLE AND CALVES: New England's cattle and calf inventory on January 1, 2005 totaled 516,500 head, one percent below the previous year's inventory. Calves born in New England, during 2004, totaled 225,500, four percent below 2003's calf crop. Inventory was valued at $623.8 million across all six States, $105 million more than 2004. HOG VALUES: On December 1, 2004, inventory of hogs and pigs in New England totaled 28,800 head, up two percent from the December 2003 count. Inventory was valued at $3.3 million across all six States, up 56 percent from the previous year due to increases in both inventory and value. Massachusetts accounted for 40 percent of the total New England value. SHEEP AND GOATS: The New England sheep and lamb inventory on January 1, 2005 totaled 45,500 head, up 2,500 head from a year earlier, and the first increase in sheep numbers in the region since 1999. Breeding stock totaled 39,000 head the first of the year, a five percent increase from the 2004 inventory count. Nationally, sheep numbers are also above 2004 levels, supported by efforts to strengthen the sheep industry nationwide with a ewe-lamb replacement and retention program administered by USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA). New England's value of inventory was placed at $9.1 million in 2004, compared with $8.4 million the previous year. The first Annual Goat Survey was conducted nationwide in January, 2005. Results from the survey placed New England goats on hand January 1, 2005 at 22,600 head, an increase of 12 percent from the 2002 Census count. Milk goats, at 11,300 head, accounted for 50 percent of the New England total. Angora goats totaled 1,300 head, and meat and other goats totaled 10,000 head, both inventories above 2002 Census levels. ANNUAL MILK PRODUCTION: Milk production in New England during 2004 totaled 4.21 billion pounds, a decrease of nearly three percent from the 2003 output of 4.33 billion pounds. Total milk cow numbers decreased from the 2003 level to 233,200. Milk per cow increased from 17,883 pounds in 2003 to 18,034 pounds in 2004. FARM NUMBERS: The New England farm count for 2004 totaled 28,150 farms, a loss of 100 farms from a year earlier. New England land in farms, at 4.01 million acres in 2004, was unchanged from the 2003 farmland area total. An estimated 100 farms were lost from agriculture in the State of Vermont from a year earlier; however, acreage devoted to farmland remained unchanged. Maine accounted for the most land in farms in the region in 2004 with 1.37 million acres, followed by Vermont with 1.25 million acres. The average size of a farm in New England was 142 acres in 2004, ranging from 71 acres per farm in the highly populated State of Rhode Island to 195 acres per farm in the dairy State of Vermont. New England farm operations with less than $10,000 in sales totaled 18,740 farms in 2004, or 67 percent of all farms operating, unchanged from a year earlier. The definition of a farm has remained the same since 1974: the value of sales of agricultural products must be at least $1,000 or more during the year. Activities included as agriculture, however, have undergone modifications in recent years. For further details concerning the farm definition history, as well as final estimates of United States farms and land in farms for 1998 - 2002 and earlier years, please access the NASS website (www.usda.gov/nass) END OF REPORT