What Dairy Farmers Bring to Pennsylvania

1. What Dairy Farmers Bring to Pennsylvania

2. PA’s Dairy Industry • 8,500 dairy farms • 550,000 cows • 10.7 billion pounds of milk produced annually • Ranked 5th nationally in total milk production

3. PA’s Dairy Industry • 99 percent of farms family-owned and operated • Dairies across the Commonwealth are growing to accommodate growing families and the next generation

4. What’s It Worth to PA? • $1.2 billion in farm receipts • $4.2 billion dollars for the economy • 40,000 jobs throughout the Commonwealth and across the supply chain

5. What’s It Worth to PA? Dairy is worth more to PA than Oranges are to Florida and Potatoes are to Idaho. Production Value in Millions

6. Pennsylvania Needs Our Dairy Producers!

7. Dairy Producers are: • Dedicated to the care and well-being of their animals • Committed to producing fresh, wholesome, quality milk • Responsible stewards of the land and natural resources • Vital contributors to the local community and its economy

8. Dedicated to Animal Care: • All dairy farmers care about their cows • The average dairy cow is capable of producing 120 glasses of milk a day • A cow must be healthy and content to produce quality milk • Farmers make sure their cows get: • A well-balanced diet & a constant fresh supply of water • Regularly veterinary care • A clean, comfort place to live

9. Dedicated to Animal Care: • Dairy farmers work with others to give their animals the best care possible • Veterinarians & nutritionists two examples

10. Committed to Quality Milk • Healthy cows give quality milk • Cows’ udders are sanitized before milking and protected after milking • Human hands never touch the milk • All milk is tested multiple times to ensure that no antibiotics or any other harmful residues enter the milk supply

11. Committed to Quality Milk • Dairy producers work closely with milk processors and state / federal inspectors to ensure a safe milk supply • Typically milk enters the food supply within three days of being produced

12. Committed to Quality Milk • Pennsylvania located within ½ days’ drive from 40 percent of population • Milk from Pennsylvania is shipped to dairy plants up and down East Coast • Milk made into fluid products, cheese, butter, ice cream, powder products, baby formula and even chocolate

13. Committed to Quality Milk • Milk and dairy products are an important part of a healthy diet • Dairy products provide calcium and eight other essential nutrients • The USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid calls for Americans to get 3-A-Day of dairy

14. Contributor to Economy • As the milk flows out, money flows back into thelocal community • 85 percentspent within local community • Circulates 2.5 times to increasethe total impact

15. Contributor to Economy • Average 70-cow dairy contributes nearly $1 million to local economy • 500-cow dairy contributes nearly $7 million for local economy Each cow = $13,737 for the economy

16. Contributor to Economy Every Nine Cows = One Job

17. Responsible to Environment: • Farmers care about the communities where they live and work • Their farms provide wide open spaces for the local community • They take good care of the land to preserve their future and ours

18. Responsible to Environment: • Use sound environ-mental practices like no-till farming and rotational grazing to take care of land and natural resources • Recycle nutrients in the water and in manure to benefit the environment

19. Dairy Farmers are: • Dedicated • Responsible • Conscientious • Neighborly • A Vital Part ofPennsylvania’sEconomy and Our Communities