Agriculture is an important contributor to the economy of New York State. New York ranks third in the nation for overall milk production, behind California and Wisconsin. And, New York ranks in the top five nationally for production of corn silage, apples, tart cherries, pears, grapes, fresh cabbage, cauliflower, fresh snap beans, squash, fresh sweet corn, and maple.
For livestock marketing, New York ranks 39th for cattle and calf production, 20th for egg production, 24th for chicken production excluding broilers, 30th for hog and pig production, and 25th for sheep and lamb production. The most recent agriculture statistics for New York State can be found at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/New_York/index.asp.
Dairy is number one of all agricultural industries in New York State. It touches the lives of virtually every New Yorker, every day. New York has 1.4 million dairy cattle on nearly 6,000 dairy farms and produces 12 billion pounds of milk annually. Dairy farms contribute $1.9 billion to the state’s economy, and provide some of the highest economic multipliers in the state.
The leading milk producer in the state is Wyoming County, followed by St. Lawrence and Cayuga counties. One quarter of the state’s milk production is sold fluid milk and the remainder is processed. New York has 115 dairy plants that make nearly 700 million pounds of cheese, 184 million pounds of cottage cheese, 16 million pounds of butter, 237 million pounds of yogurt and 30 million gallons of ice cream. New York ranks third in the nation for cheese production. The most popular varieties are mozzarella and cheddar. The state also leads the nation in cottage cheese production.
Cornell University estimates that for every new job created on a dairy farm, an additional 1.24 jobs are created in the community. And, for every dollar output, an additional 83 cents is generated. Dairy processing provides an additional 4.72 jobs for every job created in the plant, the highest multiplier in the state, and generates an additional $1.26 to the community for every dollar of product sold. The dairy industry directly supports a full-time workforce of 22,000 people.
Without farmers, local tax bases would look very different and that would affect schools, local businesses and the food supply. It would also affect the natural landscape, the wide open spaces, and the working landscapes that farmers help provide. Each cow generates $52 worth of school and property tax revenue each year.
NY’s farm families are committed to responsible production that focuses on:
Dairy farms and processing plants are regulated by USDA, FDA and state and local authorities. Every tanker load of milk that leaves the farm is tested to ensure quality. No milk includes antibiotics. Most milk travels only about 100 miles from the dairy to the grocery store to ensure farm-fresh quality.
The dairy cow is an amazing animal. She can produce up to 12 gallons of milk each day, eats 100 pounds of feed, drinks a bathtub of water and poops a lot. This manure is recycled back onto farm fields to support growing plants. Some farmers use manure to generate electricity through methane digesters.
With modernization, dairy farm employees have become increasingly specialized. Many receive technical 2 or 4 years degrees and participate in leadership programs such as Cornell’s LEAD NY.
In current dairy trends, farms are getting larger. But the average herd size on a US dairy farm is 135 mature cows. The majority, 77 percent, of dairy farms have less than 100 cows. But farms with more than 100 cows produce 77 percent on the milk. Number of cows is not increasing, but production per cow is, which indicates how healthy these cows are. Healthy cows make healthy milk. Increased production reduces the carbon footprint of farms. When the same amount of milk is produced with fewer cows and feed resources, environmental sustainability is improved and the demand on natural resources is reduced. As the global population reaches nine billion people in the first half of the 21st century, the food supply required over the next 40 years will approximately equal the total amount of food produced throughout the history of humankind, which will require farms to continue to become even more efficient. US milk production will have to increase to 5.62 billion gallons by 2040 to meet USDA dietary recommendations for three 8 ounce-glasses of milk per person each day.
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