Dairy farmers sent 42,000 fewer cull cows to slaughter in June than they did a year ago, a 16% reduction in culling, USDA announced this morning. June culling did surpass May by 5,000 head.
Year-to-date, culling is off some 76,000 head, down 5% from a year ago. The latest (and perhaps last) round of Cooperatives Working Together herd retirements will take out another 34,000 hear or so. But it’s clear even this level of herd culling won’t catch up to last year’s herd removals.
Increasing production per cow and reduced culling is means more milk is on the way, as reported in the June milk production estimate this past Monday.
