May Dairy Cow Slaughter Up 2%
The United States Department of Agriculture reported this week that 214,000 dairy cows were sent to slaughter in federally inspected plants in May. This is 4,500 more cows than a year ago, for a jump of 2.1%.
The increase is even higher on a per day basis, because May 2015 had one more business day than May 2104. On that measure, 7.2% more cows were culled per day in May this year.
May 2015 culling was quite a bit slower than April 2015, however. Nearly 29,000 fewer dairy cows (11.9%) were slaughtered in May than in April. But again, there were two fewer business days in May than in April this year. So on a daily basis, culling was just 3% lower.
Year-to-date, about 43,000 more cows have been culled through May this year compared to 2014. That’s a 3.6% increase.
You can read the full report here.
