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Farm-Level Organic Milk Sales In 2015: $1.2 Billion, Up 8.4% From ‘14

Certified Organic Milk Production Totaled 3.4 Billion Pounds In ‘15

Milk was the leading commodity in certified organic sales last year, with sales totaling $1.174 billion, up 8.4 percent from 2014, according to a recent report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

The 2015 Certified Organic Survey showed that 12,818 certified organic farms in the US sold a total of $6.2 billion in organic products last year, up 13 percent from 2014.

The survey is the fourth organic production survey and the second certified organic only production survey conducted at the state and national levels by NASS.

The 2015 Certified Organic Survey collected certified organic crop information for acreage harvested, quantity produced, quantity sold, and value of sales for field crops, vegetables, fruits, tree nuts, berries, and horticulture, as well as inventory, quantity sold, and value of sales for livestock, poultry and livestock products, including dairy.

According to the NASS report, there were 2,282 certified organic farms with milk cows last year. Leading states in the number of organic farms with milk cows last year were: Wisconsin, 439 farms; New York, 387 farms; Pennsylvania, 275 farms; Indiana, 183 farms; Vermont, 182 farms; Ohio, 181 farms; Minnesota, 104 farms; and California, 95 farms.

In addition to California, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, states in the top 10 in overall milk production had the following number of farms with organic milk cows last year: Idaho, 16 farms; Michigan, 53 farms; New Mexico, one farm; Texas, four farms; and Washington, 30 farms.

In addition to New Mexico, the states of Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming each had just one farm with certified organic milk cows last year.

As of December 31, 2015, there were 229,197 certified organic milk cows in the US. Leading states in the number of organic milk cows as of December 31, 2015, were: California, 45,584 cows; Wisconsin, 26,553 cows; New York, 22,102 cows; Oregon, 15,160 cows; Pennsylvania, 14,570 cows; and Vermont, 12,377 cows.

Five additional states had more than 5,000 certified organic milk cows at the end of last year: Idaho, 6,096 cows; Indiana, 7,002 cows; Minnesota, 9,471 cows; Ohio, 8,301 cows; and Washington, 6,419 cows.
Organic milk production in the US last year totaled 3.406 billion pounds, with a value of $1.174 billion.

Leading states in the production of organic milk last year, along with the value of that organic milk, was as follows:
California: 747.3 million pounds, valued at $254.3 million.
Wisconsin: 370.7 million pounds, valued at $124.7 million.
New York: 278 million pounds, with a value of $99 million.
Oregon: 251.1 million pounds, with a value of $83.2 million.
Pennsylvania: 190.9 million pounds, with a value of $67.4 million.

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