Stewart's Processing Company of Saratoga Springs has been named New York State's top milk producer for 2005, according to Cornell University's New York State Milk Quality Improvement Program.

Stewart's earned a 94.4 score this year. Crowley Foods of Albany and Crowley Foods of Binghamton both earned an 89.7 score to share second place. Upstate Farms Cooperative, Inc., of Rochester received an 88.2 score, while Wendt's Dairy, Niagara Falls, scored 85 to round out the top five processors.

Cornell University Dairy scored a perfect 100 this year, but the university's Food Science Department never declares itself the winner because it conducts the analytical testing. Last year Wendt's scored a perfect 100, while Cornell Dairy tallied a score of 88.8.

The milk judging is part of the New York State Milk Quality Improvement Program and is sponsored by the New York Milk Promotion Order, the federally mandated dairy program paid for by dairy producers.

The point totals are based on measurement criteria that include attributes such as butterfat content and post-pasteurization bacteria counts within the milk's sell-by date. The most critical attributes analyzed are product flavor and stability during shelf life, says Kathryn Boor, Cornell professor of food science and director of the quality program.

Every year random samples of whole, reduced-fat, low-fat and fat-free milk are evaluated. Revenues collected by the state from dairy producers fund the New York Milk Promotion Order, and it is administered through New York's Department of Agriculture and Markets. Nearly all milk processors in the state participate.

More than 400 milk samples were collected between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2005, and nearly 4,000 individual tests were run to determine the winners. The milk was first examined when it was received and again 14 days later, near the end of the sell-by date. Microbiological and chemical tests were performed, and panelists scored each sample based on flavor and odor.