This report from Agricultural Finance and Management at Cornell, Cornell Dairy Farm Business Summary Analysis Program, was published in a PRO-DAIRY alert distributed to an email list of nearly 7,000 dairy producers, agriservice and legislators.
As farm businesses across New York analyze their financial performance by utilizing the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program that is supported by Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and PRO-DAIRY, the changes that occurred from 2020 to 2021 can be reviewed. An important purpose of management is to compare how your farm changed from one year to the next, how this compares to your business goals, and how this compares to the industry. Understanding what changes occurred and determining why they changed can help in preparation for making business improvements in 2022.
The report consists of five sections:
- Average of all farms (136 farms)
- Less than 500 cows (34 farms)
- 500 to 999 cows (32 farms)
- 1,000 to 1,499 cows (37 farms)
- 1,500 cows and greater (33 farms)
Highlights from the progress report:
- Labor efficiency improved in 2021, with a 2.3 percent increase in cows per worker and a 4.9 percent increase in pounds of milk sold per worker. Hired labor costs per worker equivalent also increased 5.1 percent.
- Gross milk price per cwt increased 7 percent from $18.56 in 2020 to $19.77 in 2021.
- Hay dry matter tons per acre and corn silage tons per acres increased 19 percent and 5 percent respectively. This contributed to the increase of accrual crop receipts of 203 percent from 2020.
