U.S. dairy farmers sent 207,000 cull cows to slaughter in July. That’s 19,000 fewer compared to July 2010 (8.4%) and 12,000 fewer than June 2011 (5.5%). Year-to-date, however, cow culling is still running 70,000 head higher than 2010, a 4.4% rise.
The slower culling could be the result of record milk prices in most regions of the country.
Region 6, which includes the drought-stricken states of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas (as well as Arkansas and Louisiana), culled 13,000 dairy cows in July, just 600 head more than in June.
There have been anecdotal reports of Texas cattle being shipped as far north as Wisconsin because slaughter capacity has been maxed out further south due to drought herd liquidation of beef cow-calf herds. But the USDA numbers for total cattle slaughter aren’t refined enough to reflect those movements. In fact, total cattle slaughter in July was down significantly in both the Texas/New Mexico region and the Midwest.
You can get the complete July slaughter report here.
