New numbers are out on egg and milk production from South Dakota farmers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the latest statistics.
Egg output in the state totaled 68.5 million eggs from January through November of this year. In all of last year, hens laid more than 72 million eggs. It’s still unclear whether total production will be up for 2020.
Milk production last month totaled 263 million pounds. That’s up 13 percent from November of 2019.
Erik Gerlach is the State Statistician for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. He says it’s not surprising to see that increase.
“Certainly with milk production, there has been an effort for numerous amount of years to bring additional dairy cattle into the state of South Dakota. And you've seen the infrastructure that's been built up and down I-29 to accommodate that and process that milk.”
The USDA reports there are more dairy cows in the state. Comparing this November to last November, the average number of milk cows is up by 13,000 head. Milk produced per cow averaged 1,880 pounds.
USDA officials are surveying farmers nationwide to gather year-end crop production numbers. They’ll also update information on hired labor on the nation’s farms and ranches. Gerlach says the data will help farmers begin planning for the next growing season and assist in administering farm labor programs.
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