The Idaho Dairy Council says that the state will probably take back its title as the No. 3 dairy producer in the nation this year.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office trumpeted USDA production data earlier this year showing that New York had edged out Idaho as the No. 3 dairy producer. California and Wisconsin are No. 1 and No. 2.
But Karianne Fallow, CEO of United Dairymen of Idaho and the Idaho Dairy Council, says Idaho will probably reclaim the No. 3 spot this year.
“We are official ranked No. 4, but I suspect we are probably at No. 3 today, despite the fact that we won’t see new numbers until January,” Fallow said. “Importantly, though, we’re still No. 1 per capita.”
Dairy Herd Management magazine said New York produced 13.487 billion pounds of milk in 2013, compared to 13.430 billion lbs. in Idaho.
“They passed us by less than a day’s production,” noted J. Brent Olmstead, of Milk Producers of Idaho, Inc.
Compared to December 2012, Idaho cow numbers were down 15,000, to 565,000 head. New York cow numbers were up 3,000 over the same period, to 613,000 head.
The 2013 estimates are complicated somewhat by last year’s budget sequestration, which reduced available data for monthly Milk Production reports for several months.
Source: Idaho Business Review