New York Is An Agricultural State
Agriculture is important to New York State. The value of agricultural
production was over $5.70 billion in 2012. About 23 percent of the state’s
land area, or 7 million acres are used by the 36,000 farms to produce a very
diverse array of food products.
Livestock and dairy production is the largest sector of NYS agriculture and provided $3.0 billion
value of production to farmers in 2012. New York livestock producers marketed 295 million pounds
of meat animals during 2012 bringing in $333 million. Gross income from cattle and calves
accounted for $486 million.
Additional Facts about the Cattle Industry in NY:

Total number of Farms: 36,000. 99% of New York farms are family owned.

Number of farms with cattle: 13,600

Total Number of Cattle & calves, January 1, 2013: 1.4 million (Ranked 21st in the nation.)

Cows & Heifers kept for beef: 131,000. (39th in the nation). Kept for dairy 930,000 (3rd ).

The dairy industry in New York ranks 4th in the nation in milk production and 17% of all
U.S. beef is derived from dairy cattle.

Cattle are the ideal mechanism for efficiently utilizing grasses and plant residues growing on
the 7 million acres of New York agricultural land. Many of these acres are not suited for the
production of cultivated crops and would be wasted if it were not for ruminants, such as
cattle, turning these resources into essential protein and nutrients for human use. Crop
residues serve as a valuable feed source and are just one way New York beef producers
improve the environment.
Source: New York Agricultural Statistics 2012-2013 Annual Bulletin
New York is a “Beef Deficit” State:
When looking at America’s beef industry, New York is
considered a “beef deficit” state; meaning that we consume
more beef than we produce. In contrast, there are states such
as South Dakota that due to their natural grasslands and
other resources in combination with a low population,
produce an excess of beef.
The beef industry is diverse and uses the resources available to us in our individual areas to raise
cattle in a variety of ways to maximize production. Since the farmers and ranchers in South Dakota
rely on selling their beef in “beef deficit” states such as New York, they contribute their checkoff
dollars to co-sponsor our May Beef Month tours and promotions in New York.
To illustrate the diversity in beef production across America, here are a few facts about the beef
industry in South Dakota:

SD has 31,000 farms and ranches in the state. Of that there are 15,000 cattle producers and
450 dairy farms (5,700 dairy farms in NY).

As of January 1, 2013 South Dakota had approximately 3.85 million head of cattle. New
York has a total of 1.4 million cattle.

There are approximately 5 head of cattle for every citizen in South Dakota. New York has
approximately 14 people for every head of cattle.

South Dakota ranks 5th in the nation in beef cows and 8th in total cattle and calves.
Thanks to beef producers all across America, New York’s consumers can be
guaranteed a plentiful supply of safe, nutritious, high quality beef.
Special Thanks to the South Dakota Beef Council
for co-sponsoring Beef Month in New York!