STAT Communications Ag Market News

U.S. Honey Output Decline Supports Prices

WASHINGTON - Mar 18/21 - SNS -- Honey production in the United States dropped 6% last year to 148 million pounds, according to the USDA, while prices paid to growers advanced 2% to U.S. $2.03 per pound.

There were 2.71 million colonies producing honey in 2020, down 4% from 2019. Yield per colony averaged 54.5 pounds, down 2% from the 55.8 pounds in 2019. Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State where the honey was produced. Therefore, at the United States level yield 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 39.7 million pounds on December 15, 2020, down 3% from a year earlier. Stocks held by producers exclude those held under the commodity loan program.

Prices for each color class are derived by weighting the quantities sold for each marketing channel. Prices for the 2019 crop reflect honey sold in 2019 and 2020. Some 2019 crop honey was sold in 2020, which caused some revisions to the 2019 crop prices.

The average prices paid in 2020 for honey bee queens, packages, and nucs were $18, $84, and $105 respectively. Pollination income for 2020 was $254 million, down 18% from 2019. Other income from honey bees in 2020 was $55.8 million, down 28% from 2019. These estimates along with expenditure and apiary worker information can be found on page 4 of this report.

Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value - States and United States: 2019
[Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :    Honey     :   Yield   :               :               :  Average  :    Value
         State        :  producing   :    per    :  Production   :    Stocks     : price per :      of
                      : colonies 1/  :  colony   :               :December 15 2/ : pound 3/  :production 4/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :    1,000        pounds        ---- 1,000 pounds ----        dollars   1,000 dollars
                      :
Alabama ..............:        7         42               294             44         3.38            994
Arizona ..............:       23         46             1,058            201         2.04          2,158
Arkansas .............:       20         55             1,100            176         1.65          1,815
California ...........:      335         48            16,080          3,216         1.60         25,728
Colorado .............:       32         46             1,472            500         2.34          3,444
Florida ..............:      205         45             9,225            830         2.46         22,694
Georgia ..............:      102         33             3,366            370         2.67          8,987
Hawaii ...............:       16         80             1,280             51         1.30          1,664
Idaho ................:       92         32             2,944            677         1.62          4,769
Illinois .............:       11         39               429            116         4.12          1,767
                      :
Indiana ..............:        9         55               495            188         3.78          1,871
Iowa .................:       38         55             2,090          1,170         2.35          4,912
Kansas ...............:        7         79               553            171         2.35          1,300
Kentucky .............:        6         41               246             44         4.66          1,146
Louisiana ............:       54         72             3,888            428         2.15          8,359
Maine ................:       15         35               525            110         3.28          1,722
Michigan .............:       94         50             4,700          1,363         2.56         12,032
Minnesota ............:      118         59             6,962          3,063         1.83         12,740
Mississippi ..........:       22         80             1,760            141         1.87          3,291
Missouri .............:       10         43               430             73         3.35          1,441
                      :
Montana ..............:      173         86            14,878          5,802         1.49         22,168
Nebraska .............:       39         52             2,028            223         1.44          2,920
New Jersey ...........:       15         28               420            155         4.68          1,966
New York .............:       59         58             3,422          1,027         4.00         13,688
North Carolina .......:       14         42               588            118         4.11          2,417
North Dakota .........:      520         65            33,800          6,422         1.43         48,334
Ohio .................:       15         67             1,005            442         3.46          3,477
Oregon ...............:       87         32             2,784          1,141         2.50          6,960
Pennsylvania .........:       19         50               950            409         4.41          4,190
South Carolina .......:       16         47               752             45         5.03          3,783
                      :
South Dakota .........:      270         72            19,440          7,582         1.56         30,326
Tennessee ............:        8         57               456             91         4.72          2,152
Texas ................:      126         60             7,560          1,663         2.32         17,539
Utah .................:       22         29               638             89         1.97          1,257
Vermont ..............:        6         48               288             84         4.48          1,290
Virginia .............:        5         39               195             49         7.19          1,402
Washington ...........:       81         35             2,835          1,191         2.18          6,180
West Virginia ........:        6         37               222             47         4.26            946
Wisconsin ............:       46         47             2,162            692         3.00          6,486
Wyoming ..............:       39         56             2,184            306         1.43          3,123
                      :
Other States 5/ 6/ ...:       30         47             1,418            351         4.65          6,594
                      :
United States 6/ 7/ ..:    2,812         55.8         156,922         40,861         1.99        312,275
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Honey producing colonies are the maximum number of colonies from which honey was harvested during the
   year. It is possible to harvest honey from colonies which did not survive the entire year.
2/ Stocks held by producers.
3/ Average price per pound based on expanded sales.
4/ Value of production is equal to production multiplied by average price per pound.
5/ Includes data for States not published in this table.
6/ Due to rounding, total colonies multiplied by total yield may not exactly equal production.
7/ United States value of production will not equal summation of States.
Colonies, Yield, Production, Stocks, Price, and Value - States and United States: 2020
[Colonies which produced honey in more than one State were counted in each State]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :    Honey     :   Yield   :               :               :  Average  :    Value
         State        :  producing   :    per    :  Production   :    Stocks     : price per :      of
                      : colonies 1/  :  colony   :               :December 15 2/ : pound 3/  :production 4/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :    1,000        pounds        ---- 1,000 pounds ----        dollars   1,000 dollars
                      :
Alabama ..............:        7          39              273             66         5.43          1,482
Arizona ..............:       25          36              900            360         2.18          1,962
Arkansas .............:       20          49              980            176         1.80          1,764
California ...........:      320          43           13,760          2,752         1.78         24,493
Colorado .............:       30          41            1,230            455         2.09          2,571
Florida ..............:      192          46            8,832            883         2.28         20,137
Georgia ..............:      101          34            3,434            412         2.36          8,104
Hawaii ...............:       15         105            1,575             79         1.61          2,536
Idaho ................:      107          35            3,745            637         1.75          6,554
Illinois .............:       10          52              520            156         5.56          2,891
                      :
Indiana ..............:        9          55              495            149         4.14          2,049
Iowa .................:       35          58            2,030          1,259         2.59          5,258
Kansas ...............:        8          62              496            164         2.93          1,453
Kentucky .............:        7          33              231             58         6.25          1,444
Louisiana ............:       33          69            2,277            228         2.42          5,510
Maine ................:       10          30              300             78         3.26            978
Michigan .............:       95          47            4,465          1,384         2.70         12,056
Minnesota ............:      108          55            5,940          2,495         1.75         10,395
Mississippi ..........:       25          73            1,825            146         1.94          3,541
Missouri .............:        9          41              369            100         3.31          1,221
                      :
Montana ..............:      110          81            8,910          3,208         1.57         13,989
Nebraska .............:       37          52            1,924            250         1.71          3,290
New Jersey ...........:       14          31              434             91         7.99          3,468
New York .............:       58          56            3,248            844         3.39         11,011
North Carolina .......:       12          38              456            123         5.13          2,339
North Dakota .........:      495          78           38,610          8,108         1.60         61,776
Ohio .................:       16          75            1,200            576         3.85          4,620
Oregon ...............:       95          29            2,755          1,102         2.47          6,805
Pennsylvania .........:       19          48              912            392         4.74          4,323
South Carolina .......:       16          46              736             66         3.28          2,414
                      :
South Dakota .........:      245          61           14,945          8,668         1.60         23,912
Tennessee ............:        7          51              357             54         4.39          1,567
Texas ................:      157          57            8,949          1,253         1.90         17,003
Utah .................:       28          34              952            171         2.07          1,971
Vermont ..............:        6          47              282             96         3.76          1,060
Virginia .............:        5          40              200             54         5.44          1,088
Washington ...........:       98          37            3,626            798         2.54          9,210
West Virginia ........:        6          46              276             58         3.89          1,074
Wisconsin ............:       45          50            2,250            855         3.26          7,335
Wyoming ..............:       38          40            1,520            608         1.66          2,523
                      :
Other States 5/ 6/ ...:       33          42            1,375            303         4.36          5,995
                      :
United States 6/ 7/ ..:    2,706          54.5        147,594         39,715         2.03        299,616
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Honey producing colonies are the maximum number of colonies from which honey was harvested during the
   year. It is possible to harvest honey from colonies which did not survive the entire year.
2/ Stocks held by producers.
3/ Average price per pound based on expanded sales.
4/ Value of production is equal to production multiplied by average price per pound.
5/ Includes data for States not published in this table.
6/ Due to rounding, total colonies multiplied by total yield may not exactly equal production.
7/ United States value of production will not equal summation of States.
Honey Price by Color Class - United States: 2019 and 2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   :   Co-op and private   :        Retail         :          All
            Color class            :-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   :   2019    :   2020    :   2019    :   2020    :   2019    :   2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   :                           dollars per pound
                                   :
Water white, extra white, white ...:   1.63        1.69        4.70        4.94        1.70        1.77
                                   :
Extra light amber .................:   1.70        1.76        3.63        4.64        1.90        1.88
                                   :
Light amber, amber, dark amber ....:   1.95        1.87        5.30        5.26        2.57        2.35
                                   :
All other honey, area specialties .:   3.16        2.36        6.62        7.62        3.99        2.87
                                   :
All honey .........................:   1.73        1.78        4.82        5.22        1.99        2.03
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Income and Expenditures - United States: 2019 and 2020
[Represents income and expenditures on the total number of
colonies, regardless of whether honey was harvested]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
               Item              :     2019      :     2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                 :         1,000 dollars
                                 :
Income                           :
Pollination income ..............:    309,630         254,282
Other income 1/ .................:     77,677          55,773
                                 :
Expenditures                     :
Varroa control and treatment ....:     16,366          11,706
Other colony issues 2/ ..........:      4,535           3,166
Feed 3/ .........................:     58,010          40,930
Foundation ......................:      7,887           6,567
Hives/woodenware ................:     11,939          11,153
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Includes sales of queens, queen cells, beeswax, propolis,
   etc.
2/ Includes Nosema, tracheal mites, foulbrood, paralysis,
   Kashmir, cloudy wing, etc.
3/ Includes syrup, sugar water, honey, pollen patties, and other
   feeds.
Queen, Package, and Nuc Prices Paid - United States:
2019 and 2020
[Represents prices paid on the total number of colonies,
regardless of whether honey was harvested]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
               Item              :     2019      :     2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                 :            dollars
                                 :
Queen ...........................:       18              18
Package .........................:       85              84
Nuc .............................:      100             105
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Apiary Workers - United States: 2019 and 2020
[Represents number of paid and unpaid workers that worked with
colonies, regardless of whether honey was harvested]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
               Item              :     2019      :     2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                 :            workers
                                 :
Apiary workers ..................:    25,000          24,000
-----------------------------------------------------------------

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