PA Dairy Industry Performance

Pennsylvania ranks 5th in the U.S. in total milk production, producing 10.74 billion pounds in 2007. The state has 554,000 cows that average 19,390 pounds per year. The state ranks fourth in total cow numbers and 15th in milk production per cow. Improving milk production per cow is the most significant way to improve on-farm profitability, with every three pounds in milk contributing an additional $100 in profit per year. Every additional cow added to an existing facility has the potential to increase net profits on that farm by $2,000 annually.

Industry Scorecard

The Pennsylvania Dairy Task Force set an industry-wide goal of reaching 10.8 billion pounds of milk. To learn more about this goal, click on the "Top 10!" logo. Efforts coordinated through the center and task force focus on programs to help the commonwealth reach that goal.

To track our performance toward that goal, the Center for Dairy Excellence publishes a monthly “PA Dairy Industry Performance Scorecard,” which looks at key factors supporting the growth of Pennsylvania’s dairy industry and evaluates trends affecting Pennsylvania's dairy farms.

The Center for Dairy Excellence works with the Farmshine newspaper to publish a weekly "Market and Management Update." Click here to view that.

The January edition of the Pennsylvania Dairy Industry Performance Scorecard shows:

• The number of commercial dairy farms in the state fell to 7,400, down 3.5 percent from a year ago. The U.S. lost 2,185 dairies in 2009, a 3.9 percent decline. About 91 percent of the dairies that went out of business last year had less than 100 cows.
• Milk production in the state is down 1.7 percent from January 2009, the first year-over-year decrease since May, but up 1 percent from December 2009.  
• Cow numbers down 9,000 head from January 2009 but up 2,000 head from December. Milk production per cow is at 60 pounds per day, level with both last January and December's levels.
• Somatic cell count levels are down 11 percent from January 2009 and nearly 2 percent less from December.

Click here to view this month's scorecard

See a Summary of this month's scorecard

To view this week's Dairy Week in Review, click here.

View Background on PA Industry Dynamics

To view milk margins for past 12 months, click here.

Click here for Dr. David Galligan’s Visual Analytics on National and Statewide Trends.