Grain production on New York dairy farms has increased over the last few years, according to Cornell Dairy Farm Business Summary (DFBS) data.
Milk production base programs and the inability to grow the herd, land availability combined with no plans to grow the herd, interest in grain production, farm goals, and other reasons may have driven some dairy operators to grow grain as a part of their business.
In this Extension Bulletin, a descriptive study was done using DFBS data to look closer at characteristics and trends in financial performance of four groups of farms, each with different levels of grain production, over the period of 2021 to 2024.
Characteristics of the four groups (2022):
- The lowest quartile averaged around 1.5 tillable acres per cow, all of which was forage acres.
- Quartile two averaged 1.5 acres per cow; majority being used for forage production with a very small amount of non-forage (grain acres).
- Quartile three averaged just under two acres per cow, with some additional non-forage acres beyond forage needs.
- Quartile four, the highest quartile, averaged over 2.5 acres per cow, with almost one acre being non-forage.
In all years except 2021, Quartile two and Quartile three had the lowest total cost of producing milk, highest net farm income per cow, and highest rate of return on assets. Tables and charts looking at several metrics over the period are included in the full report.
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