New York farms boost milk production almost 4 percent in August

New York dairy farms produced 1.38 billion pounds of milk in August, a 3.8 percent increase from 1.329 billion pounds in the year-prior month, according to the monthly milk-production report that the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) issued on Sept. 18.

Milk production per cow in the Empire State averaged 2,190 pounds in the eighth month of 2023, up 2.8 percent from 2,130 pounds in August 2022. The number of milk cows on farms in New York totaled 630,000 head in August, up 1 percent from 624,000 head in the year-ago month, NASS reported.

New York dairy farms were paid an average of $18.80 per hundredweight of milk in July, down 1 percent from $19 in June, but off 30 percent from $26.70 in July 2022.