The US also lost XNUMX cows

It was recently announced that the German dairy herd has shrunk by 2018 animals between May 2019 and May XNUMX. Coincidence or not, in the United States (US) the number of dairy cows has decreased in the same order of magnitude.

The US had 9,3 million dairy cows in June, according to figures from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Compared to the same measurement moment a year earlier, this is a shrinkage of 100.000 animals. The contraction is related to a decline of no fewer than 2.500 American dairy farms.

This is mainly a result of the persistently poor milk prices, which forced the smaller companies in particular to stop. Since 2015, American dairy farmers have struggled to write green figures. Although milk prices have picked up somewhat in recent months, it is still not a big deal. It is also expected that milk prices in the coming year stay skinny.

Clear trend break
The decline in dairy cows is clearly a break in the trend. Between 2014 and 2017, the dairy herd grew by 150.000 animals. A logical consequence of this was a continuous increase in American milk production.

Although the number of dairy cows has decreased in recent months, milk production is currently not showing any decline. This is because the shrinkage is compensated by an increase in production per cow. The average milk production in June was 896 kilos per cow.

Also less young stock
Although a contraction of 100.000 American dairy cows is in itself a large number, the percentage decrease (more than 1%) of the total dairy herd is quite limited. In Germany, the decline of 100.000 dairy cows a contraction of almost 2,5%, given that the dairy herd there is a lot smaller.

It is likely that the US dairy herd will continue to decline, as the number of heifers destined for dairy farming has also lost 2% to 4,1 million. The total number of cattle remained the same at 103 million, as a result of a slight increase in the number of beef cows. 

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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