White Gold
How could you find a better ti
tle for a promotion on the impact
of the dairy industry on the econ
omy of Pennsylvania? The Penn
sylvania Dairy Stakeholders' new
brochure has tremendous applica
tions for farmers across the state
to reach out to our non-farm
neighbors. They are making the
connection between the milk we
produce and the economy of the
community by sharing facts about
the dairy industry.
Roughly 11,500 dairy farms
throughout the state provide thou
sands of jobs and billions of dol
lars for the economy. About 1.2
million gallons of milk per year
are produced through the dairy in
dustry.
If you can imagine, that's
enough milk for 38 billion bowls
Celebrate t&e
fan and flaws
of gersftey.
of cereal and about 1,600 glasses
of milk each year for every man,
woman, and child in the state.
Also, the milk from every 20
cows creates one full time job,
which means over 17,000 people
are emploved on Pennsylvania
dairy farms. Another 12,000 have
jobs processing, transporting, and
selling milk, and this doesn't even
include jobs created by selling
equipment and farm supplies.
Here are the facts:
1) A two percent growth in the
Pennsylvania dairy industry cre
ates 570 new jobs
2) Farm commodities such as
milk, meat and grain create thou
sands of off-farm jobs
3) Farmers are major consum
ers ol goods and services pur
chased locally
4) Farmland serves the com
munity as a free groundwater re-
]{ Hershey Foods Corporation
All trademarks llreflStd to HersSsy Foods Corporation
charge area
5) Farms generate more tax
money than they require in serv-
ices
But, just how valuable is the
dairy industry in your own county
or township? For a quick over
vie >v, count the number of dairy
cows in your area to estimate how
many dollars milk brings into
your area. Your county agent
should be able to provide accurate
cow numbers.
Take the number of cows jmd
multiply by 2,000 gallons
(average production per cow) to
get a total gallons of milk per
year.
Now multiply the gallons of
milk by an average price of $ 1.20
per gallon ($l4/hundredweight) to
find the total dollars milk is
bringing into your community.
Remember, most of that money
will go right back into the local
economy in the form of pur
chases, services and taxes.
This article about milk and it's
role in maintaining a strong econ
omy comes primarily from infor
mation provided by the Pennsyl
vania Dairy Stakeholders.
Milk, it does a community
good.
Feel free to send your com-
ments and ideas to Jim Shirk at atjshirk@lcci.com or call him at
The Lancaster Chamber by email 397-3531.
PENNSYLVANIA DAIRY FACTS
The Pennsylvania dairy industry generated an estimated $1 67 billion in economic
activity last year
Total milk produced in the state last year amounted to 10,742 million pounds or 1.249
million gallons
There were 10,500 commercial dairy farms in Pennsylvania lasi year, with 644,000 mill
cows in (he state
Each dairy cow in Pennsylvania produced an average of 16,811 pounds or 1,954 gallons
of milk in 1997
Last year, Pennsylvania dairy cows produced more than 7 gallons of milk a day, or
enough to make 6 pounds of cheese or 2 6 pounds of butler To produce this much milk
a cow consumes 35 gallons of water, 20 pounds of grain and concentrated feeds, and 15
pounds of hay and silage.
The average value of a day’s milk is about $7 80 per cow It takes $3 50 to pay for the
feed, $1 25 for other supplies, and $2 75 for building and overhead to produce that milk,
leaving 30 cents for labor and profit
In 1997, dairy cow in Pennsylvania cost about $1,130 In order to pay for that cow, a
farmer would have to sell 1,018 gallons of milk
The lop five ranking dairy counties in the state based on milk production arc I ancastcr,
Franklin, Bradford, Berks, and Chester counties
Each person in Pennsylvania drank an average of 23 gallons of milk last year
> Pennsylvania ranks fourth m milk production in the United States, producing 6 8 percent
of the nation’s milk
At a mailbox price of $l5 50 per hundredweight, Pennsylvania dairy fanners averaged
$ 42 profit for each 100 pounds of milk they produced in 1996
1997 average mailbox price isn 'I available for Pennsylvania
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