Hawaii’s commercial production of beef and milk rose in February from the same month a year earlier, while production of pork and eggs declined, according to the local office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Beef production totaled 654,000 pounds in March, up 15 percent from March 2008, and 9 percent more than February. The year-over-year rise was attributed to increases in both the total slaughter, up 11 percent to 1,000 head, and the average weight per animal, up 11 percent to 1,221 pounds. Hawaii’s biggest cattle producer is Parker Ranch on the Big Island, which has between 30,000 and 35,000 head of Angus and Charolais cattle.
Hawaii’s dairy cows produced 1.8 million pounds of milk in March, up 20 percent from March 2008, and 13 percent more than February.
Pork production totaled 235,000 pounds in March, down 10 percent from March 2008, but up 11 percent from February. Egg production totaled 5.9 million in March, down 9 percent from a year earlier, but up 13 percent from February.