Hny 1 (2-10) Honey Washington, D.C. Released February 26, 2010, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Honey" call Troy Marshall at (202) 720-3244, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. United States Honey Production Down 12 Percent Honey production in 2009 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 144 million pounds, down 12 percent from 2008. There were 2.46 million colonies producing honey in 2009, up 5 percent from 2008. Yield per colony averaged 58.5 pounds, down 16 percent from the 69.9 pounds in 2008, and is the lowest yield since 1989. 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 37.2 million pounds on December 15, 2009, down 27 percent from a year earlier. Stocks held by producers exclude those held under the commodity loan program. Honey Prices Record High Honey prices increased to a record high during 2009 to 144.5 cents, up 2 percent from 142.1 cents in 2008. 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 2008 crop reflect honey sold in 2008 and 2009. Some 2008 crop honey was sold in 2009, which caused some revisions to the 2008 crop prices. Honey: Price by Color Class, United States, 2008-2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Price :----------------------------------------------------------- Color Class : Co-op and Private : Retail : All :----------------------------------------------------------- : 2008 : 2009 : 2008 : 2009 : 2008 : 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Cents per Pound : Water White, : Extra White, White : 138.9 140.8 195.0 272.1 141.2 142.3 : Extra Light Amber : 135.2 141.7 209.7 242.4 140.7 146.1 : Light Amber, : Amber, Dark Amber : 127.4 133.6 240.5 275.6 142.0 144.6 : All Other Honey, : Area Specialties : 143.3 138.5 326.8 394.8 205.9 217.8 : All Honey : 135.4 139.2 224.7 278.4 142.1 144.5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honey: Number of Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value by State and United States, 2008 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 : 9 66 594 214 190 1,129 AZ : 25 64 1,600 336 126 2,016 AR : 28 75 2,100 525 135 2,835 CA : 360 51 18,360 4,039 139 25,520 CO : 27 45 1,215 656 151 1,835 FL : 150 79 11,850 1,304 132 15,642 GA : 65 71 4,615 369 152 7,015 HI : 10 90 900 225 159 1,431 ID : 90 40 3,600 1,440 146 5,256 IL : 8 56 448 116 259 1,160 IN : 7 67 469 150 168 788 IA : 24 62 1,488 580 158 2,351 KS : 10 61 610 128 155 946 KY : 4 39 156 27 244 381 LA : 40 77 3,080 493 136 4,189 ME : 7 42 294 79 157 462 MI : 71 73 5,183 2,021 144 7,464 MN : 122 78 9,516 2,569 139 13,227 MS : 14 98 1,372 110 130 1,784 MO : 11 53 583 152 168 979 MT : 134 70 9,380 4,596 137 12,851 NE : 36 67 2,412 1,254 145 3,497 NV : 10 29 290 52 142 412 NJ : 9 40 360 122 162 583 NM : 6 48 288 95 148 426 NY : 50 70 3,500 1,260 165 5,775 NC : 12 52 624 137 218 1,360 ND : 400 90 36,000 8,640 136 48,960 OH : 14 53 742 371 168 1,247 OR : 50 43 2,150 1,097 141 3,032 PA : 23 48 1,104 276 165 1,822 SD : 225 95 21,375 11,970 134 28,643 TN : 7 61 427 149 209 892 TX : 77 64 4,928 1,380 134 6,604 UT : 28 48 1,344 242 157 2,110 VT : 5 66 330 119 220 726 VA : 6 42 252 45 242 610 WA : 49 44 2,156 862 151 3,256 WV : 6 43 258 49 216 557 WI : 58 80 4,640 2,366 150 6,960 WY : 39 61 2,379 381 137 3,259 : Oth : Sts 7/ 8/ : 16 51 817 163 234 1,912 : US 8/ 9/ : 2,342 69.9 163,789 51,159 142.1 232,744 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, 2009 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 : 9 49 441 66 182 803 AZ : 20 52 1,040 562 153 1,591 AR : 24 57 1,368 301 139 1,902 CA : 355 33 11,715 2,109 139 16,284 CO : 28 53 1,484 326 140 2,078 FL : 150 68 10,200 1,428 138 14,076 GA : 65 41 2,665 346 147 3,918 HI : 10 95 950 323 163 1,549 ID : 103 46 4,738 1,706 145 6,870 IL : 8 34 272 57 226 615 IN : 9 32 288 101 198 570 IA : 26 42 1,092 339 151 1,649 KS : 9 63 567 164 189 1,072 KY : 5 35 175 25 273 478 LA : 37 103 3,811 610 132 5,031 ME : 6 50 300 51 186 558 MI : 66 60 3,960 1,505 151 5,980 MN : 122 65 7,930 1,427 140 11,102 MS : 14 104 1,456 87 132 1,922 MO : 11 47 517 57 198 1,024 MT : 146 70 10,220 3,577 145 14,819 NE : 48 56 2,688 1,102 144 3,871 NV : 10 52 520 57 129 671 NJ : 9 32 288 46 193 556 NM : 7 60 420 143 163 685 NY : 47 65 3,055 978 183 5,591 NC : 11 45 495 84 252 1,247 ND : 450 77 34,650 7,623 137 47,471 OH : 11 50 550 132 275 1,513 OR : 55 34 1,870 767 149 2,786 PA : 21 40 840 319 199 1,672 SD : 270 66 17,820 6,237 139 24,770 TN : 7 51 357 86 235 839 TX : 74 63 4,662 886 138 6,434 UT : 26 38 988 198 147 1,452 VT : 5 49 245 69 236 578 VA : 6 39 234 56 328 768 WA : 62 44 2,728 1,064 149 4,065 WV : 5 37 185 33 267 494 WI : 63 60 3,780 1,588 151 5,708 WY : 37 48 1,776 391 143 2,540 : Oth : Sts 6/ 7/ : 15 51 768 127 280 2,150 : US 7/ 8/ : 2,462 58.5 144,108 37,153 144.5 208,236 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 five 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 five 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. 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. Prices for each color class are derived by weighting the quantities sold for each marketing channel. 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 2.46 million colonies by more than 1.1 percent. Chances are 9 out of 10 that the difference will not exceed 1.9 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 1.9 48 20 1 50 4 6 Colonies : : Honey : Production : 0.7 1.3 1,845 787 64 2,928 5 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Bruce Boess, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section..........(202) 720-4447 Doug Bounds - Poultry Slaughter, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised.(202) 690-3237 David Colwell - Cold Storage.....................................(202) 720-8784 Chris Hawthorn - Catfish Processing, Catfish Production, Trout Production, Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products, Mink....(202) 720-0585 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs.......................................(202) 690-8632 Troy Marshall - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey........(202) 720-3244 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. For free access, connect to the Internet and go to the NASS Home Page at: www.nass.usda.gov. 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