The New York dairy revolution by the numbers

Why New York and why now?

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Dairy
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Animal Science
PRO-DAIRY

The addition of billions of dollars of processing plant capacity in New York is creating a lot of excitement in the dairy industry. It has also sparked billions more in on-farm investment, creating significant opportunity for rural economic development.

So why New York, and why now?

New York has been experiencing a quiet revolution over the past quarter century. This has not only kept the state on the map in terms of continuing to be a leading dairy state but also appears to have seeded a surge in New York dairy.

The numbers below tell the story.

State ranking

Among the biggest factors in the New York dairy story is the steady progress of moving up state ranks to take a place among the top five U.S. states for milk production per cow. In the year 2000, New York production per cow was ranked 22 among U.S. states and ranked as low as 24th in 2004. Since then, New York dairy farmers have turned the table and delivered many annual improvements in milk per cow, increasing at a faster rate than most states. As of 2025, New York ranked fourth in production per cow, an improvement of 18 places since 2000.

Other aspects of New York dairy have changed significantly as well. In 2000 New York’s 686,000 milking cows made just under 12 billion pounds of milk. Cow numbers decreased to as few as 610,000 cows in 2011 to 2013 before turning up slowly. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data indicates New York had 642,000 milking cows in 2025 while total milk production increased to over 16.5 billion pounds.

chart showing New York's increasing milk rank of production per cow

New York's milk yield-per-cow rank rose from a 2004 low of 23rd to 4th by 2025.

Total number of milk cows

New York’s modern dairy industry has roots dating back to the 1800s. One historical marker is New York’s (and possibly the world’s) first industrial scale cheese plant that opened near Rome, New York, in 1851, producing over 100,000 pounds of cheddar cheese in its first year of operation.

As populations and markets shifted, and as refrigeration and transportation methods improved and became cheaper, dairy production and processing capacity shifted westward with the growing nation.

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service tracks dairy production information and provides a summary of U.S. dairy and leading dairy states covering 1970 through 2025. In the 1970s through the mid-1980s, New York had more than 900,000 cows but then experienced a steady decline in cow numbers for about 25 years, leveling off at just over 600,000 cows in 2010. Cow numbers started to increase by 2014 and USDA reported 642,000 cows at the end of 2025.

Number of milking cows dropped from about 950,000 head in 1970 to a low near 610,000 around 2011-2013, then edged up slightly to about 640,000 by 2025.

Milk production per cow

Since 2023, New York milk production per cow has been among the top five U.S. states. While total number of New York dairy cows decreased by about 300,000 cows between 1985 and 2010, increasing milk per cow offset the declining New York dairy cow population.

Average milk production per cow in New York has more than doubled since 1970, rising from about 11,000 pounds to nearly 26,000 pounds by 2025, with steady gains each decade.

Total milk produced

While total number of New York dairy cows decreased by about 300,000 cows between 1985 and 2010, increasing milk per cow offset the declining New York dairy cow population. Incredibly, during this period of substantial reduction of cow numbers, New York total milk production was relatively steady, hovering in the 11 billion to 12 billion-pound range annually. Yet after 2007 — before cow numbers bottomed out at 610,000 — annual New York total milk began to steadily increase and cracked the 13-billion-pound level in 2012. By 2025, total production exceeded 16.5 billion pounds, a roughly 3.5-billion-pound increase in total milk since 2012.

How much of the increased production is from more cows, and how much is more milk per cow?

In 2025, annual production per cow was 25,800 pounds with 32,000 more cows than in 2012. More milk per cow is responsible for over 2.5 billion pounds of the 3.5-billion-pound increase in total milk in the period. This illustrates how increasing productivity stabilized and then dramatically increased New York milk supply, protecting and adding to dairy processing jobs and serving as a rural economic engine.

New York's total milk production rose from about 10.3 billion pounds in 1970 to roughly 16.6 billion pounds by 2025, with the steepest growth occurring after 2005.

What's next?

Recently, a large new dairy plant investment has been announced for Pennsylvania. According to USDA reports, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New York together have about 1.2 million milking cows. The three neighboring states form a considerable dairy block, comparing closely to Wisconsin’s 1.27 million cows.

A number of critical questions arise. Is our region poised for a dairy revival? Can New York continue to improve milk per cow? Can dairy farmers in Vermont and Pennsylvania catch up? How do we meet the challenge of increasing production while protecting the environment? Adding milk per cow could be a smart way to grow for many dairy farms, especially where land for forage production and manure recycling is limited.

New York dairy finds its mojo

A quiet revolution has been happening in the New York dairy industry over the last quarter century. Since a low production per cow ranking of 27 in 2004, New York dairy farmers have delivered many annual improvements in milk per cow, increasing at a faster rate than many other states.

As of 2025, New York is now ranked fourth in production per cow, jumping 18 ranking places since 2000. In 2000 New York’s 686,000 milking cows made just under 12 billion pounds of milk. With increases in productivity, cow numbers decreased to as few as 610,000 cows in 2011 through 2013 before turning up slowly, with USDA data indicating New York had 642,000 milking cows in 2025, while increasing total milk production to over 16.5 billion pounds.

The addition of billons of dollars of processing plant capacity in New York is creating a lot of excitement in the dairy industry, leading to billions more on-farm investment, and creating significant opportunity for rural economic development.

From a state rank of 22 in the U.S. for milk production per cow in 2000, New York reached the top five in 2023.