Agriculture
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:
Twenty-two percent of New York’s 11,800 dairy farms now milk
their cows three times a day, up from 15% in 1991, according to the Cornell
University Department of Animal Science. The New York dairy cow population
is down to 749,000, from 928,000 a decade ago, and the number of dairy farms is
down from 18,000, but the remainder produced a record 11.6 billion pounds of
milk. Largely because of thrice daily milkings, average milk production per cow
is up 20%, to 15,463 pounds (roughly equal to the national average). Because
thrice daily milkings wear cows out faster, farmers who have gone to that sched-
ule cull their herds more often. Dairy farming accounts for $1.5 billion of New
York’s $2.9 billion-a-year agricultural industry.
The Senate on September 14 voted to delay any increase in grazing
fees on public lands for at least a year, stalling the Clinton administration’s
attempt to hike the fee from $1.86 per animal month to $4.28 a month––still only
half the price of grazing on private land. A similar proposal was withdrawn in
February to win passage of the budget.
The current market value of a dead ostrich is about $350, less than
1% of the peak price paid at U.S. auctions recently for a breeding pair. While
speculation in breeding stock booms in the U.S. and Canada, South Africa is still
the only nation in the world with a legal ostrich slaughterhouse, killing about
150,000 of the big birds each year for feathers, leather, and meat.
