Downturn in cow culling extends to 57 weeks
- ZISK
- Oct 15, 2024
- 1 min read
If you’re a dairy producer looking to purchase replacement heifers, you know prices have gone sky high. It’s a simple supply and demand imbalance. Supply is limited and demand has been moving higher with improved milk margins, which are now the best in a decade.
Early last summer, purchasing heifers was an exercise in buyer’s choice at $1,600 to $1,700 per head, according to USDA and field data. Just one year later, values have moved past $3,000 per head for Holsteins at recent auctions in Turlock, Calif., and Pipestone, Minn., with top heifers fetching $3,800.
There’s good reason for those high values as replacement numbers have dropped to a 20-year low due to the beef on dairy trend and that is inhibiting growth in milk production. These high replacement costs have caused dairy farmers to collectively pull way back on culling.
Corey Geiger
October 14, 2024
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