New York is observing the National Agriculture Week, March 17 to 21. For the Empire State, it is all about dairy, whose prices currently show stability.
State-level milk prices gained $3 per hundredweight [CWT] year-on-year early 2025 amid rising consumption.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA], New York was selling milk at $25 per hundredweight, 14% above January 2024’s.
The state’s dairy prices have blossomed from being at the federal average in 2024 to among the top 5 early 2025.
While the United States’ milk median was $24.10 per CWT in January 2025, select eastern and southern states neared $27. Georgia led at $27.30 per CWT while New York, Vermont, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Florida all breached $25.
The recent gains have sidestepped the toll of avian flu on the sector, which strongly affected dairy in, especially, California.
Spring Appetite
More so, the onset of spring when appetite for butter and cheese increases also bodes well for liquid milk.
The last spot price quotes for liquid milk on March 14, 2025 were at least $2.50 per fluid pound.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) indicates that demand and availability for fluid milk are at par, hence the price stability.
“Dairy Week”
Despite representing all agriculture, the ongoing National Agriculture Week could be dubbed “dairy week” in the NY context.
The over 3,000 dairy farms in New York that constitute the state’s strongest agricultural sector make the festival their own.
Briefing 2WGRZ radio, Richard A. Ball, the NY State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ commissioner labeled dairy “our biggest economic engine.”
This tribute invokes recovering statewide and national liquid milk sales, which spiked by 0.5% in 2024 year-on-year after stagnating since 2009.
Furthermore, New York continues to lead federal output of processed milk solids, particularly yogurt and cottage cheese.
So, a double shot of grounded prices and recognition in the agriculture week is putting the Empire State’s dairy on the spotlight. And as the statistics below prove, New York is a dairy “king.”
Statistics on Dairy in New York
New York is the fifth biggest dairy state in the United States in terms of production. The sector is NY’s biggest agricultural earner, with annual average returns of $3.9 billion. Because 94% of the dairy estates are family-run, their input is a round-the-clock affair that aims at sustainability. This is why production has been steadily increasing from 13,190,000 pounds of milk (2012) to 15,660,000 pounds (2022).
All this is thanks to a dairy herd that has ranged from 610,000 head in 2012 to 630,000 in 2022. In the national context, only California at 1,724,000 head (2022), Wisconsin, Idaho and Texas have bigger counts, nationally.
Does New York enjoy stable milk prices?
As the table below via the Agriculture Department of New York shows, dairy prices in the Big Apple fluctuate yearly.
| Year | Price [approximate In $/CWT] |
| 2012 | 20 |
| 2013 | 22 |
| 2014 | 26 |
| 2015 | 18 |
| 2016 | 17.5 |
| 2017 | 18.5 |
| 2018 | 17 |
| 2019 | 19.5 |
| 2020 | 18 |
| 2021 | 19 |
| 2022 | 26 |
How high is milk consumption in New York?
Based on annual sales of fluid milk, New Yorkers order up to 1.896 billion pounds (2012) of milk each year. This measure of consumption was lowest for the 2012-22 decade in 2020, at over 1.424 billion pounds.
Which is the most popular milk product in New York?
New York has designated yogurt as its official snack for a reason: milk consumption in the state is pretty high. Leading products include low fat milk at 1.062 billion pounds, whole milk at 1.025 billion pounds, and skim milk at 179.079 million pounds (all 2022 figures).