After a steady decline in cow slaughter, dairy producers are starting to see a shift in culling decisions. The high cost of replacement heifers has made it difficult to justify culling cows, but that trend is beginning to change. Recent numbers show more cows moving to slaughter again.
Based on the latest USDA monthly Livestock Slaughter data released on April 23, the number of dairy cull cows marketed through U.S. slaughter plants in March 2026 was estimated at 239,200. While up 1,900 from February, it was also 21,300 more than March 2025.
March 2025 had 26 non-holiday weekdays and Saturdays while March 2026 also had 26 days. Slaughter averaged 9,200 head per business day this year, up 800 head from a year earlier.
Weekly slaughter toward the end of 2025 reversed a long-term trend where weekly dairy cow slaughter had trailed year-earlier levels with a total decline of nearly 556,100 head. However, in the weeks since September 2025, it has increased 73,423 head from the same period a year earlier.
The USDA estimated there were 9.621 million dairy cows in U.S. herds in March 2026, up 8,000 from the February estimate and putting the March culling rate at about 2.5% of the herd. Based on the monthly data, year-to-date (January-March) dairy cull cow slaughter now stands at about 723,300 head, up 40,600 from the same period a year ago.
Read: U.S. Milk production climbs 2.3% in March as dairy herd grows
Heaviest dairy cow culling during January occurred in the Upper Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin) at 60,800 head. That was followed in the Southwest (Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada) at 47,600 head.
Other monthly regional totals were estimated at 35,400 head in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia; 32,300 head in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington; and 31,200 head in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Primary data for the USDA’s Livestock Slaughter report is obtained from reports from about 1,100 federally inspected plants and nearly 1,825 state-inspected or custom-exempt slaughter plants.
Read also: Dairy replacement cow prices fall back to last spring
