Why the U.S. Milking Herd is Growing Despite Record-Low Replacement Numbers

ZISK
20 hours ago
1 min read

The traditional “manual” for running a dairy farm is being rewritten in real-time. For decades, the math was straightforward: cull underperforming cows, raise as many replacement heifers as possible, and focus almost exclusively on fluid milk volume. Today, that equation has been upended by a historic surge in the beef market and a genomic revolution that is fundamentally changing the biological output of the American herd.

According to Abbi Prins, a livestock analysis from CoBank’s knowledge exchange division, the industry is currently navigating a structural shift where the value of a cow is no longer tied solely to her milk production, but to her role as a surrogate for the high-value beef market. This beef-on-dairy movement is redefining heifer inventories, culling strategies and the very composition of the milk hitting the processing plants.

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