ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York says it's now No. 1 nationally in yogurt production.
State statistics show New York producers churned out 692 million pounds of yogurt last year to take the top spot. California was No. 2 after producing 587 million pounds.
New York yogurt plants have nearly tripled production in the last five years.
New York is also the fourth largest milk producer in the country. Over the last five years, milk production increased by 1 billion pounds to over 13 billion pounds in 2012.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has lifted some environmental protection regulations regarding cattle waste that will allow dairy farms to produce more milk this year. Farmers will be able to milk more cows without having to build substantially larger barns.
The latest statistics were released Thursday.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
