USDA reported this morning that dairy farmers sold 223,000 cows for slaughter through Federally-inspected plants in February. This is 20,000 head fewer than a year ago (8%) and 9,000 head fewer than in January (4%).
Year-to-date, 69,000 fewer cows ended up as hamburger compared to 2009, a 13% drop-off in culling.
This reduced culling is probably another reason milk production was up, if ever so slightly, in February. For more information on the February milk production report, click here.
