Hny 1 (2-09) Honey National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released February 27, 2009, 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 Up 8 Percent Honey production in 2008 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 161 million pounds, up 8 percent from 2007. There were 2.30 million colonies producing honey in 2008, down 6 percent from 2007. Yield per colony averaged 69.9 pounds, up 15 percent from the 60.7 pounds in 2007. 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 50.4 million pounds on December 15, 2008, down 4 percent from a year earlier. Stocks held by producers exclude stocks held under the commodity loan program. Honey Prices Record High Honey prices increased to a record high during 2008 to 141.0 cents, up 31 percent from 107.7 cents in 2007. 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. Honey prices for 2008 were up from the previous year for all color classes and marketing channels. Prices for the 2007 crop reflect honey sold in 2007 and 2008. Some 2007 crop honey was sold in 2008, which caused some revisions to the 2007 crop prices. Honey: Price by Color Class, United States, 2007-08 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Price :----------------------------------------------------------- Color Class : Co-op and Private : Retail : All :----------------------------------------------------------- : 2007 : 2008 : 2007 : 2008 : 2007 : 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Cents per Pound : Water White, : Extra White, White : 103.0 138.6 172.8 192.4 104.6 141.2 : Extra Light Amber : 97.5 133.6 188.0 205.4 106.4 139.1 : Light Amber, : Amber, Dark Amber : 93.8 125.5 218.3 235.7 112.5 139.6 : All Other Honey, : Area Specialties : 132.7 135.7 291.1 302.9 175.6 197.6 : All Honey : 99.9 134.0 204.6 219.7 107.7 141.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honey: Number of Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value by State and United States, 2007 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 56 616 209 149 918 AZ : 30 64 1,920 902 126 2,419 AR : 28 80 2,240 672 95 2,128 CA : 340 40 13,600 3,672 104 14,144 CO : 31 51 1,581 838 115 1,818 FL : 160 71 11,360 1,363 99 11,246 GA : 60 58 3,480 522 119 4,141 HI : 10 92 920 285 170 1,564 ID : 92 41 3,772 1,848 115 4,338 IL : 9 63 567 374 249 1,412 IN : 8 53 424 119 150 636 IA : 26 81 2,106 1,221 131 2,759 KS : 14 40 560 196 118 661 KY : 4 61 244 54 212 517 LA : 29 89 2,581 413 108 2,787 ME : 9 26 234 59 132 309 MI : 72 64 4,608 2,350 119 5,484 MN : 130 68 8,840 2,564 104 9,194 MS : 15 92 1,380 166 91 1,256 MO : 14 46 644 148 112 721 MT : 135 68 9,180 2,479 99 9,088 NE : 45 49 2,205 1,477 103 2,271 NV : 10 28 280 67 299 837 NJ : 9 57 513 185 196 1,005 NM : 6 59 354 138 142 503 NY : 53 57 3,021 1,843 138 4,169 NC : 12 45 540 76 249 1,345 ND : 420 74 31,080 9,013 96 29,837 OH : 14 61 854 376 177 1,512 OR : 46 43 1,978 1,088 131 2,591 PA : 25 42 1,050 326 170 1,785 SD : 255 52 13,260 10,608 102 13,525 TN : 7 65 455 114 199 905 TX : 105 82 8,610 1,550 96 8,266 UT : 28 42 1,176 270 113 1,329 VT : 5 64 320 96 170 544 VA : 6 46 276 63 243 671 WA : 46 44 2,024 648 125 2,530 WV : 6 48 288 95 209 602 WI : 60 84 5,040 3,024 122 6,149 WY : 43 80 3,440 894 100 3,440 : Oth : Sts 7/ 8/ : 15 48 720 230 266 1,915 : US 8/ 9/ : 2,443 60.7 148,341 52,635 107.7 159,763 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, 2008 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 66 594 214 186 1,105 AZ : 25 64 1,600 336 125 2,000 AR : 28 75 2,100 525 131 2,751 CA : 360 51 18,360 4,039 141 25,888 CO : 27 45 1,215 656 150 1,823 FL : 150 79 11,850 1,304 130 15,405 GA : 55 71 3,905 312 149 5,818 HI : 10 90 900 225 148 1,332 ID : 90 40 3,600 1,440 142 5,112 IL : 8 56 448 116 246 1,102 IN : 6 67 402 129 161 647 IA : 24 62 1,488 580 156 2,321 KS : 10 61 610 128 152 927 KY : 4 39 156 27 236 368 LA : 29 77 2,233 246 133 2,970 ME : 7 42 294 79 150 441 MI : 71 73 5,183 2,021 143 7,412 MN : 122 78 9,516 2,569 139 13,227 MS : 14 98 1,372 110 130 1,784 MO : 11 53 583 152 178 1,038 MT : 134 70 9,380 4,596 137 12,851 NE : 36 67 2,412 1,254 142 3,425 NV : 10 29 290 52 237 687 NJ : 9 40 360 122 158 569 NM : 6 48 288 95 148 426 NY : 50 70 3,500 1,260 150 5,250 NC : 12 52 624 137 212 1,323 ND : 390 90 35,100 8,424 135 47,385 OH : 14 53 742 371 188 1,395 OR : 50 43 2,150 1,097 148 3,182 PA : 23 48 1,104 276 165 1,822 SD : 225 95 21,375 11,970 134 28,643 TN : 7 61 427 149 204 871 TX : 77 64 4,928 1,380 134 6,604 UT : 28 48 1,344 242 156 2,097 VT : 5 66 330 119 179 591 VA : 6 42 252 45 218 549 WA : 41 44 1,804 722 150 2,706 WV : 6 43 258 49 198 511 WI : 58 80 4,640 2,366 140 6,496 WY : 39 61 2,379 381 137 3,259 : Oth : Sts 6/ 7/ : 15 51 765 130 229 1,752 : US 7/ 8/ : 2,301 69.9 160,861 50,445 141.0 226,814 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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 0.9 percent. This means that chances are 2 out of 3 that the final estimate will not be above or below the current estimate of 2.30 million colonies by more than 0.9 percent. Chances are 9 out of 10 that the difference will not exceed 1.7 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 : 0.9 1.7 38 16 0 50 2 7 Colonies : : Honey : Production : 0.4 0.8 1,215 514 0 2,182 3 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 David Colwell - Cold Storage.....................................(202) 720-8784 Fleming Gibson - Poultry Slaughter, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised................................................(202) 690-3237 Sharyn Lavender - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey......(202) 720-3244 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs.......................................(202) 690-8632 Bruce Boess - Catfish Processing, Catfish Production, Trout Production,Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products, Mink....(202) 720-4447 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. 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