The U.S. dairy herd grew one percent last year. The USDA National Ag Statistics Service says there were 9.3 million dairy cows in the United States as of January 1st, up 99,300 from January 1st of 2014. The country had 4.6 million replacement heifers to start the year up 66,700 from the start of 2014.
While the dairy herd grew by one percent, production per cow increased nearly two percent resulting in a 2.4 percent increase in total milk production last year.
Canada’s dairy herd slipped a little in 2014 with 956,700 dairy cows as of January 1st down 2,600 from the beginning of 2014. Replacement heifers held about steady with a year ago at 444,600 head to start 2015.
By Bob Meyer
Source: Brownfield Ag News for America