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Comparing New York dairy farm earnings

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By Jason Karszes

Dairy Farm Business Summary

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  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • PRO-DAIRY
  • Animal Science
  • Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
The Dairy Farm Business Summary & Analysis Project (DFBS) is one of the longest applied research efforts within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University that interacts directly with rural stakeholders of the land grant mission. The DFBS started as a project in 1956 and works with dairy farm families to analyze financial and business performance over time, with the objective to improve business and financial management within the dairy industry using modern analysis techniques and historical farm data. 

PRO-DAIRY business management specialists Jason Karszes, Lainey Koval and Mary Kate MacKenzie shared these reports in the August 2025 PRO-DAIRY e-Leader newsletter, distributed to an email list of nearly 7,000 dairy producers, agriservice, and legislators.

Comparing New York dairy farm characteristics by earnings

The 2024 business year had significant improvement in earnings over 2023. While on average financial performance improved, there continues to be a range of financial performance across farms that participate in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program (DFBS). DFBS data from 2024 provides insight into key measures of productivity, efficiency and financial performance. The data for 129 farms for 2024 is sorted into four groups representing earning quartiles, providing the opportunity to compare the four groups across selected measures of performance and efficiency. 

Final Progress of the Farm extension bulletin

For the 2024 business year, financial performance across farms participating in the Dairy Farm Business Summary Program( DFBS) improved from 2023, with net farm income increasing by 150%. This report summarizes key measures of productivity, efficiency, and financial performance the same 128 farms that participated in the DFBS in 2023 and 2024. This data can be used by farm manager’s to compare their values and change from the previous years to help identify areas of potential change and improvement. This report contains summaries for the following:
  • The average of all NY farms
  • Farms with less than 575 cows
  • Farms with 575 to 1,224 cows
  • Farms with 1,225 to 1,799 cows
  • Farms with 1,800 cows and greater

 

PRO-DAIRY is a nationally recognized extension and applied research leader serving dairy farms for more than 30 years.

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