For farms that participated in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program (DFBS) in 2023, earnings were impacted by a significant drop in the net milk price received, which fell 18 percent from the record high prices in 2022. While there were increases in cow, calf, and crop revenue that partially offset the drop in milk income, the overall decrease in farm revenue coupled with a one percent increase in costs resulted in a 66 percent decrease in net farm income and an average rate of return of 4.0 percent without appreciation. While the average showed significant decreases, variation continued to be wide in earnings and some farms continued to make financial progress. DFBS data from 2023 provides insight into key measures of productivity, efficiency, and financial performance for New York dairy farms during a year of weak to poor earnings.
With a total of 139 farms participating in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program for 2023, the data was sorted into four groups representing earnings quartiles, using the rate of return on all assets without appreciation to measure earnings. The following tables contain selected measures and costs associated with the four quartiles of farms and can be used to identify differences across the earning quartiles. The lowest quartile of farms averaged -1.3 percent rate of return on all capital without appreciation, with the second quartile averaging 2.0 percent, the third quartile earning 4.3 percent, and the highest quartile of farms earning 7.4 percent.
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