After a steady increase in cow slaughter since September, dairy producers could again begin to see a shift in culling decisions. As the U.S. dairy herd expands, the high cost of replacement heifers has made it difficult to justify culling cows, so that trend may be beginning to change. Recent numbers show less cows moving to slaughter again over last year’s numbers.
Based on the latest USDA monthly Livestock Slaughter data released on June 25, the number of dairy cull cows marketed through U.S. slaughter plants in May 2026 was estimated at 191,700. While down 23,400 from April, it was also 5,000 less than May 2025.
May 2025 had 26 non-holiday weekdays and Saturdays while May 2026 also had 25 days. Slaughter averaged 7,700 head per business day this year, up 100 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 85,100 head from the same period a year earlier.
The USDA estimated there were 9.665 million dairy cows in U.S. herds in May 2026, up 10,000 from the April estimate and putting the May culling rate at about 2% of the herd. Based on the monthly data, year-to-date (January-May) dairy cull cow slaughter now stands at about 1,130,100 head, up 43,500 from the same period a year ago.
Read: U.S. dairy herd growth drives higher milk production in May
Heaviest dairy cow culling during January occurred in the Upper Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin) at 51,300 head. That was followed in the Southwest (Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada) at 35,800 head.
Other monthly regional totals were estimated at 29,400 head in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington; 26,700 head in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia; and 23,900 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.
