Honey Production Drop Reported Nationally

We recently reported that honey production across the Pacific Northwest dropped year-over-year. It doesn’t look like the PNW was the only area that saw a decrease. Honey production nationwide dropped as well.

Travis Averill with NASS said this is part of an ongoing decline over the past two decades.

"In 2021, U.S. honey production is at 126 million pounds, which is down 14% from 2020's production."

But this time it may not be due entirely to colony loss. USDA reporting the number of colonies did decline last year, but by far less than 1%.

"...yield per colony averaged 46.9 pounds", Averill noted, "down 14% from 2020."

So, colony production and yields both down 14%. Twenty years ago the U.S. produced 171 million pounds of honey, then years ago that number had dropped to 147 million pounds. And last year just 126 million pounds.

Honey prices have gone up over the last year by 21%.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com