Top 10 New York Agriculture Products
New York’s agricultural landscape is as diverse as its geography. From the Hudson Valley to the vast expanses of Upstate New York, the state has developed quite a reputation for the variety of agricultural commodities it contributes to the nation, including milk and other dairy products, apples, floriculture and much more. Take a look at the list below to discover the top New York agriculture products based on annual cash receipts.
Dairy Products and Milk
$4.8 billion in cash receipts
New York is a prominent player in the dairy industry. In 2022, New York inventoried 630,000 dairy cows, and each one produced more than 25,000 pounds of milk in a year. Those numbers account for milk for drinking as well as beloved byproducts like artisan ice cream, cheese and butter for toast.
See more: Get a Taste of the Empire State at These 8 New York Food Festivals
Corn
$549 million cash receipts
New York’s corn production spans both sweet and field corn, and farmers throughout the state planted more than 1 million acres of this crucial crop in 2022. That year, the state produced a whopping 7,225,000 tons of corn.
Cattle and Calves
$359 million in cash receipts
New York ranks 39th in the country for cow and calf production. As of Jan. 1, 2023, the state’s inventory of cattle and calves totaled 1,430,000, which included 100,000 beef cows.
Apples
$314 million in cash receipts
New York may be home to the Big Apple, but it also plays a major role in fruit production. Farmers planted 47,000 acres of apples in New York in 2022, which resulted in a harvest of 31,500 pounds per acre. The top six production districts in the state include Champlain Valley, Eastern Hudson Valley, Western Hudson Valley, Central, Lake Country and Niagara Frontier.
Chicken Eggs
$273 million in cash receipts
New York is a notable producer of chicken eggs, contributing significantly to the nation’s egg supply with more than 151.6 million eggs produced in 2022.
Floriculture
$244 million in cash receipts
Floriculture is alive and well in New York, with sales totaling around $244 million in 2022. These numbers represent 596 producers throughout the state growing everything from cut flowers and potted plants to foliage for both indoor and outdoor decor.
See more: NYC’s Brooklyn Grange Takes Farming to New Heights
Soybeans
$206.5 million in cash receipts
New York farmers harvested a total of 250,000 acres of soybeans in 2022. The final count across the board was an impressive 14.6 million bushels of soybeans grown throughout the year.
Hay
$187 million in cash receipts
Hay is a staple crop that often provides supplemental food for livestock in cold winters – which is pertinent for this part of the country when the temperatures drop and grass stops growing. New York farmers harvested 1.7 million acres of hay in 2022, which produced a total of 2.37 million tons.
Onions
$80.2 million in cash receipts
New York farmers grow around 97% of the onions produced in the Northeast, and the state ranks sixth in the country for overall onion production.
Turkeys
$70 million in cash receipts
New York has a reputation for wild turkeys, but you don’t have to hunt your own to prepare the perfect Thanksgiving meal. New York farm cash receipts for turkeys totaled $70 million in 2022.