=========================================================== New England Agricultural Statistics - - - 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 =========================================================== MAY AG REVIEW May 25, 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/ =========================================================== 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 April 2005 Agricultural Labor Survey. In This Issue Poultry: Layers and Eggs, Turkeys Dairy Products: Monthly and Annual Production Farm Labor: Workers, Hours, and Wage Rates Hay: Stocks on Farms Livestock: Production, Price, and Value, Vermont County Estimates Milk: Monthly Production and Price Potatoes: Stocks and Prices Tobacco: Acreage, Production, and Value POTATO STOCKS: Maine potato stocks on hand May 1, 2005, totaled 5.1 million hundredweight (cwt), one million cwt above 2004's May 1 holdings, and the largest stocks on hand May 1 since 1997. Disappearance to May 1 in Maine totaled 14.1 million cwt, compared with 12.9 million cwt a year earlier. Storage accounted for 27 percent of Maine's total production, compared with 24 percent in May of 2004. The price received for 2004 crop potatoes across all sales for fresh market, processing, and seed averaged $6.60 per cwt during March 2005, compared with the previous year's $6.10 per cwt, and the 5-year average of $6.96 per cwt. The 15 major potato States held 87.0 million cwt of potatoes in storage May 1, 2005, up two percent from last year and five percent above May 1, 2003. Potatoes in storage account for 22 percent of the 2004 fall storage States'production, one percentage point above last year. Disappearance of 316 million cwt of potatoes is down one percent from last year and two percent below two years ago. Shrink and loss, at 29.0 million cwt so far this season, is up five percent from last year and 12 percent above the same date in 2003. Processors in the nine major States have used 154 million cwt of potatoes this season, down one percent from a year ago and four percent below two years ago. TOBACCO: Final 2004 estimates of broadleaf tobacco production placed total marketed output in the Connecticut River Valley at 3.8 million pounds, 11 percent above the previous year's disease-reduced output. Damage from high winds and heavy rains mid-season resulted in losses at some locations. The arrival of blue mold in early August limited full crop potential, however damage was generally lighter than a year earlier due to the late arrival of the diseaseand grower vigilance. Broadleaf yields averaged 1,557 pounds per acre in the two States, compared with 1,429 pounds per acre in 2003. Prices ranged from as low as $0.25 per pound to over $6.50 per pound depending on quality. The average price of $5.31 per pound reflects an average across all prices, weighted by pounds sold at each price. The value of 2004 crop broadleaf tobacco marketed was placed at $20.0 million, compared with $12.1 million a year earlier. In 2004, producers harvested 1.9 million pounds of shade tobacco in Connecticut and Massachusetts, 51 percent above 2003's disease-reduced output. Yields averaged 1,597 pounds per acre, 433 more pounds per acre than in 2003, and above the previous five-year average of 1,416 pounds per acre. Shade tobacco price estimates will be available in February, 2006, after the bulk of the 2004 crop is marketed. LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION and INCOME: New England cash receipts from marketings of cattle and calves increased from $86.6 million in 2003 to $89.0 million in 2004. Improved cattle and calf prices offset fewer marketings, resulting in the three percent increase in cash receipts. All cattle and calf marketings in the six States totaled 120.7 million liveweight pounds in 2004, down seven percent from 2003. Maine experienced the largest decline in marketings, with 3.7 million fewer pounds marketed in 2004 compared with a year earlier. Over half of the region's cattle and calf liveweight marketings were generated from the dairy State of Vermont. In New England, marketings of hogs and pigs totaled 9.6 million pounds in 2004, down 23 percent from 2003. Massachusetts accounted for 34 percent of the region's total live-weight marketings, while Maine accounted for 29 percent. Cash receipts from hog and pig marketings totaled $4.5 million in 2004 in New England, compared with $4.2 million in 2003. Decreases in marketings across the region were offset by a 37 percent rise in the average price per hundredweight, contributing to the seven percent increase in cash receipts for the region. Massachusetts led the New England states with $1.5 million in cash receipts, followed by Maine with $1.4 million. Cash receipts from marketing of sheep and lambs in New England totaled $2.7 million in 2004, off one percent from 2003. Improved 2004 prices helped to offset reduced marketings of sheep and lambs. Marketing totaled 2.7 million live weight pounds in 2004, declined 15 percent from 2003. The value of turkey production in New England totaled $4.9 million in 2004, a one percent increase from the 2003 value. Pounds produced in the region were down four percent compared with a year earlier. The New England annual average price per pound liveweight for turkeys averaged $1.55, compared with $1.48 the previous year. Over half of the region's cash receipts from turkeys sold were generated from sales of turkeys in Massachusetts. The value of chickens sold for slaughter in New England totaled $60,000 in 2004, down 7 percent from a year earlier. Although prices were up slightly, marketings across the region decreased by 14 percent. New England poultry operations received an average of $0.005 per pound liveweight for birds slaughtered in 2004, compared with $0.004 per pound in 2003. Laying flocks in New England produced 1.9 billion eggs in 2004, down seven percent from the previous year's egg production. The average price per dozen eggs increased from 72.8 cents in 2003 to 73.4 cents in 2004. The value of egg production in the region decreased by six percent from a year earlier to a total of $119.1 million. This is a monthly summary of New England agricultural statistics taken from nationwide reports issued by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. All National reports and State newsletters are available on the Internet at: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ National reports can be ordered by calling 1-800-999-6779. How can you get these reports electronically? * For free National e-mail reports, send a message to: usda-reports@usda.mannlib.cornell.edu and in the body of the message, type: lists * For free State newsletters, such as this, send a message to: listserv@newsbox.usda.gov and in the body, type: subscribe usda-new-eng-all-reports OR for a list of all available reports, type: lists for other states. **************************end of file****************************