Mississippi State Beverage

Milk

Adopted on July 1, 1984.

An act to designate milk as the state beverage was adopted by the Mississippi State Legislature during the 1984 Regular Session. It was adopted on July 1. The number of dairy farms in Mississippi continues to decline. According to the US Department of Agriculture, there were 289 dairy herds in the state in early 2003, down from 302 in 2002 and more than 600 at the end of 1995.

Did you know that: Milk has been proclaimed the official state beverage or drink in each of the following states:

State Symbol: Milk

Arkansas | Delaware | Louisiana | Minnesota | Mississippi | Nebraska
New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Oregon | Oklahoma | Pennsylvania | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Vermont | Virginia | Wisconsin

Mississippi State Beverage: Milk

Mississippi Dairy Facts

• Mississippi had three Grade A milk processing plants operating in 2001.
• The state's total milk produced in 2001 was 57,790,698 gallons
• Mississippi had 365 Grade A dairy farms in 2001.
• Mississippi's dairy industry generated an estimated $264 million in economic activity in 2001.
• The state had about 35,000 milk cows in 2001.
• A typical Mississippi dairy herd produced an average of 1,651 gallons of milk for each cow in 2001.
• In 2001, Mississippi dairy cows produced an average of 5.4 gallons of milk per day. To produce this much milk, a dairy cow consumes 35 gallons of water, 20 pounds of grain and feed concentrates, and 35 pounds of hay and silage.
• The average value of a day's milk is about $7.01 per cow. Sales of other products associated with the dairy may add another 50 cents per cow each day. Each day, feed costs amount to $3.15 per cow with an additional $1.20 for other supplies and $2.20 for building and overhead expenses, leaving an estimated $.46 for labor and other investment expenditures.
• A dairy cow in Mississippi costs about $1,500 per head. A typical Mississippi dairy herd has 120 cows.
• The top five ranking counties according to the number of Grade A dairy farms as of December, 2001 were: Walthall, Pike, Lincoln, Amite, and Marion.
• Each year, 31.8 million gallons of fluid milk are sold in Mississippi supermarkets. That equals 13.7 gallons of milk per person annually.
• Borden's Condensed Milk was first canned in Liberty, Mississippi.

Dairy Facts

• The main breed of dairy cows is Holstein.
• Cows are milked at least twice a day with sanitary milking machines.
• The calcium content of fluid milk is: 8 oz. whole milk 291 mg. 8 oz. 2% milk 297 mg. 8 oz. skim milk 302 mg.
• Consumers continue to get more value for money spent on milk and milk products, while receiving a significant amount of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
• Consumers spend $69.7 billion per year on dairy products, which is about 10.4 percent of all their food expenditures.

Where milk comes from and how it's made.
Ever wonder where delicious milk comes from? It all starts with healthy, well-fed cows that live on farms all around America the beautiful.

Did you know that: Milk has been proclaimed the official state beverage or drink in each of the following states

• All cows are females (males are called bulls).
• A cow can't give milk until she's given birth to a calf.
• Cows provide 90% of the world's milk supply.
• A cow's udder can hold 25-50 pounds of milk at a time - no wonder she's so eager to be milked - and a cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.

Can You Say, "I'm Full?"
Cows are BIG eaters. Did you know that cows have four stomachs and eat 90 pounds of food a day? That's probably more than you weigh! A cow that chows on only grass can make 50 glasses of milk a day. But one that eats grass, corn and hay can make 100 glasses of milk a day!

Milk has a long and rich history. For example, did you know?

1. Sanskrit records mentioned milk 6,000 years ago.
2. The Bible describes the Promised Land as Aa land flowing with milk and honey."
3. The Greek physician Hippocrates recommended milk as a medicine some 2,300 years ago.
4. Christopher Columbus brought cattle to the New World on his second voyage.
5. It has been said that one reason for the high death rate among those who traveled to the New World on the Mayflower was that they had no fresh milk to drink.
6. Cows were brought from Europe to the Jamestown colony in 1611 and to the Plymouth colony in 1624.
7. Cheese was an important item in the diet of the Vikings, who from about the 8th to the 10th century sailed the seas on long voyages.
8. Cheese was an article of commerce in ancient Rome. Monks developed the art of cheese making in Europe in the Middle Ages.

Mississippi Law

The law designating the milk as the official Mississippi state beverage is found in the Mississippi Code, Title 3, Chapter 3, Section 3-3-13.

As Amended
SEC. 3-3-29. State beverage.
Milk is hereby designated the state beverage of Mississippi.
SOURCES: Laws, 1984, ch. 394, eff from and after July 1, 1984.