Net farm incomes in the West have been varied, according to mid-year reports assembled by Frazer, LLP. On a per hundredweight basis, the highest farm income at 80 cents per hundredweight (cwt.) occurred in Idaho. That was followed by the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) at 57 cents per cwt. In California, returns ranged from Kern County's 73 cents; Southern California's 38 cents; and the San Joaquin Valley's 1 cent. Meanwhile, record losses were highest in Arizona at 59 cents per cwt. That was followed by the Texas Panhandle's 54 cents, while New Mexico experienced a setback of 33 cents per cwt., reported the accounting firm which conducts business in seven states.
Feed costs were the main reason Arizona, Texas and New Mexico recorded negative returns. Among those three states, feed costs ran over 75 cents higher than the next closest four regions. It cost $13.24 per cwt. in the Texas Panhandle to feed cows; New Mexico, $13.13; and Arizona, $13.02. Meanwhile, the other four reporting areas ranged from $11.10 to $12.28 per hundredweight with Idaho posting the lowest total.
As one would expect, net returns per cows were low in all areas. Paced by Kern County's $23.20 per cow, returns went down from there: Idaho, $20.63; Pacific Northwest, $17.07; San Joaquin, $11.10; Southern California, $5.63; New Mexico (minus $7.01); Texas Panhandle (minus $11.22); and Arizona (minus $18.14).
To read the entire financial summary for the 305,000 cows in the Frazer, LLP report, please click here.
The author is the managing editor, and he brings 18 years of industry leadership to our readers overseeing all editorial content and production of the magazine. His degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison combined dairy science and agricultural economics
