Opening day of the New York State Fair featured an event that showcased the New York Center for Dairy Excellence’s promotional efforts on behalf of the state dairy industry, including signage in the Cargill Dairy Barn and New York Dairy Products Building that provided facts about New York Dairy Farms.

Listed below are some of the signs touting milk facts that were located around the fairgrounds.

• New York farmers produce 1.4 billion gallons of milk each year. That many gallon jugs put side by side would wrap around the earth’s equator five times!

• New York State ranks third in the nation for cheese production. More than half of that cheese is mozzarella.

• More than 22,000 people work fulltime on New York dairy farms – each on farm job generates enough economic activity to support one fulltime off-farm job.

• New York’s 115 dairy plants make bottled milk, butter, yogurt, cheese and ice cream – each New York dairy processing job generates enough economic activity to support 2.6 other jobs.