According to USDA, U.S. dairy cow slaughter continues to lag behind last year’s slaughter rate through the three quarters of the ’13-’14 production season. Jun ’14 U.S. dairy cow slaughter of 199,500 head was 9.4% behind the ’12-’13 slaughter rate and 1.5% lower than last month on a daily average basis. Monthly dairy cow slaughter fell below 200,000 head for the first time in six years. ’13-’14 YTD dairy cow slaughter is 8.7% lower than last year with the YTD slaughter rate continuing to decline since the beginning of the year. U.S. dairy cow numbers are key to fundamentally analyzing the milk market for expected supply and price direction. With near record milk prices and attractive margins, producers will look to continue the trend of decreased dairy cow culling in future months.