12/01/06 Idaho milk, meat production

Idaho milk production this past October totaled 934 million pounds, a 6.3 percent increase from the same month one year ago and ten million pounds more than September 2006. National Ag Statistics say the average milk production per cow in October was 18 hundred 80 pounds, a ten pound increase from last year. The number of milking cows in October was 497 thousand, unchanged from September but 27 thousand head more than October 2005. There has been a huge decline in red meat production at Idaho packing plants for October, reflective of the Tyson closure near Boise. The total meat production of 9.7 million pounds was 59 percent below October 2005. For the year Idaho red meat production is down nearly 19 percent. And one final set of numbers for you, this time on farm labor. Nationwide for the week of October 9th through the 15th, there was a four percent decrease in the number of people hired for farm and ranch work. But in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming there were 29 thousand hired workers for that week, the same number as one year ago. Those hired workers averaged 51.4 hours of work for the survey week with an average wage of $8.91, seven cents more than last year. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott