CONCORD, N.H. — New England dairy farmers brought in more money for the milk they sold in 2014, according to a report released by the USDA this month. Vermont farmers’ cash receipts grew slightly faster than the regional average.
Cash receipts in New England from marketing of milk during 2014 totaled $1.07 billion, which is 22 percent higher than 2013, according to Gary Keough, the USDA’s New England State Statistician. Producer returns averaged $25.81 per hundredweight, 20 percent above 2013. A total of 4.15 billion pounds of milk was sent to market last year, up 2 percent from 2013. This figure includes whole milk sold to plants and dealers and milk sold directly to consumers.
Vermont  milk producers accounted for more than half of all the cash receipts in the region in 2014, with $679.8 million. That was a 23.2 percent overall increase from 2013.
Across all of New England, an estimated 26.2 million pounds of milk were used on farms where produced, which is unchanged from 2013. Calves were fed 83 percent of this milk, with the remainder consumed in producer households.
New England milk production increased 2 percent in 2014 to 4.18 billion pounds. The rate per cow, at 20,015 pounds, was 476 pounds above 2013. The annual average number of milk cows on farms was 208,900 head, down 1,000 head from 2013.
Vermont cows produced 2.67 billion pounds of milk in 2014, according to USDA figures. That works out to 20,197 pounds of milk per cow.
The complete Milk Production PDI publication and all other NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov.