Hny 1 (2-08) Honey National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released February 29, 2008, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Honey" call Sharyn Lavender at (202) 720-3244, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. United States Honey Production Down 4 Percent Honey production in 2007 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 148 million pounds, down 4 percent from 2006. There were 2.44 million colonies producing honey in 2007, up 2 percent from 2006. Yield per colony averaged 60.8 pounds, down 6 percent from the 64.7 pounds in 2006. Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State where the honey was produced. Therefore, yields per colony may be understated, but total production would not be impacted. Colonies were not included if honey was not harvested. Producer honey stocks were 52.5 million pounds on December 15, 2007, down 13 percent from a year earlier. Stocks held by producers exclude stocks held under the commodity loan program. Honey Price Down Slightly The 2007 all honey price was 103.2 cents, down slightly from 103.6 cents in 2006. U.S. and State level prices reflect the portions of honey sold through retail, cooperatives, and private channels. Prices for each color class are derived by weighting the quantities sold for each marketing channel. Prices for the 2006 crop reflect honey sold in 2006 and 2007. Honey: Price by Color Class, United States, 2006-07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Price :----------------------------------------------------------- Color Class : Co-op and Private : Retail : All :----------------------------------------------------------- : 2006 : 2007 : 2006 : 2007 : 2006 : 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Cents per Pound : Water White, : Extra White, White : 97.0 96.6 175.6 167.7 99.9 98.4 : Extra Light Amber : 94.0 95.1 176.0 178.5 104.0 102.3 : Light Amber, : Amber, Dark Amber : 86.7 92.7 201.7 207.5 106.3 109.1 : All Other Honey, : Area Specialties : 114.0 135.6 231.9 289.3 163.2 174.4 : All Honey : 94.0 95.6 192.0 196.1 103.6 103.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honey: Number of Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value by State and United States, 2006 1/ 2/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Honey : Yield : : : Average : Value State : Producing : per :Production: Stocks :Price per: of :Colonies 3/: Colony : :Dec 15 4/ :Pound 5/ :Production 6/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds -- 1,000 Pounds -- Cents 1,000 Dollars : AL : 11 72 792 230 133 1,053 AZ : 30 65 1,950 839 93 1,814 AR : 32 76 2,432 730 91 2,213 CA : 380 52 19,760 7,706 99 19,562 CO : 36 75 2,700 1,458 110 2,970 FL : 170 81 13,770 1,790 101 13,908 GA : 63 74 4,662 746 122 5,688 HI : 10 93 930 233 121 1,125 ID : 95 44 4,180 2,592 100 4,180 IL : 10 66 660 356 217 1,432 IN : 6 54 324 107 158 512 IA : 26 84 2,184 1,441 138 3,014 KS : 14 55 770 246 122 939 KY : 5 56 280 70 220 616 LA : 30 90 2,700 675 90 2,430 ME : 11 23 253 86 161 407 MI : 72 55 3,960 2,099 117 4,633 MN : 125 80 10,000 3,300 96 9,600 MS : 14 98 1,372 453 93 1,276 MO : 15 46 690 117 105 725 MT : 132 79 10,428 1,981 96 10,011 NE : 47 73 3,431 3,843 94 3,225 NV : 9 37 333 50 362 1,205 NJ : 9 36 324 152 115 373 NM : 7 48 336 104 119 400 NY : 60 64 3,840 2,458 130 4,992 NC : 10 50 500 215 158 790 ND : 350 74 25,900 7,770 92 23,828 OH : 14 56 784 282 142 1,113 OR : 46 48 2,208 729 106 2,340 PA : 28 40 1,120 605 163 1,826 SD : 225 47 10,575 10,575 95 10,046 TN : 7 55 385 58 186 716 TX : 82 70 5,740 976 91 5,223 UT : 23 50 1,150 265 101 1,162 VT : 6 56 336 144 120 403 VA : 8 42 336 114 227 763 WA : 49 52 2,548 1,605 125 3,185 WV : 5 42 210 57 202 424 WI : 64 93 5,952 2,500 114 6,785 WY : 39 85 3,315 497 100 3,315 : Oth : Sts 7/ 8/ : 18 44 787 294 252 1,983 : US 8/ 9/ : 2,393 64.7 154,907 60,548 103.6 160,484 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ For producers with 5 or more colonies. Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State. 2/ Revised. 3/ Honey producing colonies are the maximum number of colonies from which honey was taken during the year. It is possible to take honey from colonies which did not survive the entire year. 4/ Stocks held by producers. 5/ Average price per pound based on expanded sales. 6/ Value of production is equal to production multiplied by average price per pound. 7/ CT, DE, MD, MA, NH, OK, RI, and SC not published separately to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 8/ Due to rounding, total colonies multiplied by total yield may not exactly equal production. 9/ Summation of States will not equal U.S. level value of production. Honey: Number of Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value by State and United States, 2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Honey : Yield : : : Average : Value State : Producing : per :Production: Stocks :Price per: of :Colonies 2/: Colony : :Dec 15 3/ :Pound 4/ :Production 5/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds -- 1,000 Pounds -- Cents 1,000 Dollars : AL : 11 56 616 209 141 869 AZ : 30 64 1,920 902 118 2,266 AR : 28 80 2,240 717 95 2,128 CA : 340 40 13,600 3,672 104 14,144 CO : 33 51 1,683 892 112 1,885 FL : 160 71 11,360 1,363 99 11,246 GA : 60 58 3,480 522 114 3,967 HI : 10 92 920 285 158 1,454 ID : 92 41 3,772 1,848 108 4,074 IL : 9 63 567 374 240 1,361 IN : 7 51 357 100 139 496 IA : 26 81 2,106 1,221 126 2,654 KS : 14 40 560 196 112 627 KY : 4 61 244 54 208 508 LA : 29 89 2,581 413 108 2,787 ME : 9 26 234 59 139 325 MI : 72 64 4,608 2,350 114 5,253 MN : 130 68 8,840 2,564 99 8,752 MS : 15 105 1,575 189 90 1,418 MO : 13 47 611 141 105 642 MT : 135 68 9,180 2,203 94 8,629 NE : 45 49 2,205 1,477 98 2,161 NV : 10 28 280 67 360 1,008 NJ : 9 57 513 185 217 1,113 NM : 6 59 354 138 136 481 NY : 56 57 3,192 1,947 142 4,533 NC : 11 45 495 69 225 1,114 ND : 420 74 31,080 9,013 92 28,594 OH : 14 61 854 376 175 1,495 OR : 44 43 1,892 1,041 121 2,289 PA : 25 42 1,050 326 163 1,712 SD : 255 52 13,260 10,608 93 12,332 TN : 7 65 455 114 195 887 TX : 105 82 8,610 1,550 95 8,180 UT : 25 39 975 224 112 1,092 VT : 5 64 320 96 126 403 VA : 6 46 276 63 235 649 WA : 46 44 2,024 648 125 2,530 WV : 5 48 240 79 196 470 WI : 60 84 5,040 3,024 115 5,796 WY : 43 80 3,440 894 103 3,543 : Oth : Sts 6/ 7/ : 18 49 873 271 253 2,209 : US 7/ 8/ : 2,442 60.8 148,482 52,484 103.2 153,233 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ For producers with 5 or more colonies. Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State. 2/ Honey producing colonies are the maximum number of colonies from which honey was taken during the year. It is possible to take honey from colonies which did not survive the entire year. 3/ Stocks held by producers. 4/ Average price per pound based on expanded sales. 5/ Value of production is equal to production multiplied by average price per pound. 6/ CT, DE, MD, MA, NH, OK, RI, and SC not published separately to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 7/ Due to rounding, total colonies multiplied by total yield may not exactly equal production. 8/ Summation of States will not equal U.S. level value of production. Reliability Statement Survey Procedures: Data for honey producing operations are collected from a stratified sample of all known producers with 5 or more colonies. States with small populations are not sampled, instead a complete census is surveyed. Individual NASS Field Offices maintain a list of all known honey producers and use known sources of producers to update their lists. All sampled honey producers with 5 or more colonies are mailed a questionnaire and given adequate time to respond by mail. Those that do not respond by mail are telephoned or enumerated in person. Care is exercised to ensure that all operations are taken into account. Prices are collected by color class and marketing channel. Estimation Procedures: Sound statistical methodology is employed to derive the estimates from reported data. All data are analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation are compared to their own past operating profile and to trends from similar operations. Data for missing operations were estimated based on similar operations or historical data. State offices prepare these estimates by using a combination of survey indications and historic trends. Individual State estimates are reviewed by the Agricultural Statistics Board for reasonableness. Revision Policy: The previous year=s estimates are subject to revision when current year=s estimates are made. Revisions are the result of late reports or corrected data. Price revisions can be the result of additional sales reported the following year. Reliability: Since all honey producing operations are not included in the sample, survey estimates are subject to sampling variability. Survey results are also subject to non-sampling errors such as omissions, duplication, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing the data. While these errors cannot be measured directly, they are minimized through strict quality controls in the data collection process and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. To assist in evaluating the reliability of the estimates in this report, the ARoot Mean Square Error@ is shown for selected items in the following table. The ARoot Mean Square Error@ is a statistical measure based on past performance and is computed using the differences between first and final estimates. The ARoot Mean Square Error@ for honey producing colonies over the past 10 years is 1.1 percent. This means that chances are 2 out of 3 that the final estimate will not be above or below the current estimate of 2.44 million colonies by more than 1.1 percent. Chances are 9 out of 10 that the difference will not exceed 2.0 percent. Reliability of Honey Estimates 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Difference Between :Number of Years : Root : 90 Percent : First and Latest :--------------- : Mean : Confidence : Estimates : First : First Item :Square : Level :-------------------------: Above : Below : Error : :Average:Smallest:Largest :Latest :Latest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :Percent Percent 1,000 ------- 1,000 ------- Number : Honey : Producing : 1.1 2.0 48 21 0 52 2 7 Colonies : : Honey : Production : 0.8 1.4 2,223 915 0 4,143 2 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Based on data for the past 10 years. Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. Dan Kerestes, Chief, Livestock Branch (202) 720-3570 Darin Jantzi, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section (202) 720-3570 David Colwell - Cold Storage (202) 720-8784 Fleming Gibson - Egg Products, Poultry Slaughter, Catfish Processing, Mink (202) 690-3237 Sharyn Lavender - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey (202) 720-3244 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs (202) 690-8632 Toby Paterson - Catfish Production, Trout Production, Census of Aquaculture, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised (202) 720-0585 ACCESS TO REPORTS!! For your convenience, there are several ways to obtain NASS reports, data products, and services: INTERNET ACCESS All NASS reports are available free of charge on the worldwide Internet. For access, connect to the Internet and go to the NASS Home Page at: www.nass.usda.gov. E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION All NASS reports are available by subscription free of charge direct to your e-mail address. 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