Executive Summary U.S. dairy cow slaughter figures provided by USDA were recently updated with values spanning through Dec ’19. Highlights from the updated report include:

• U.S. dairy cow slaughter rates increased seasonally to a three month high level but remained lower on a YOY basis for the third consecutive month, finishing down 0.6%.
• Dec ’19 MOM increases in dairy cow slaughter were led by Standard Federal Region 9 (Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada).
• Dec ’19 YOY declines in dairy cow slaughter were led by Standard Federal Region 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas).

Additional Report Details According to USDA, Dec ’19 U.S. dairy cow slaughter increased seasonally to a three month high level but finished 0.6% lower on a YOY basis when normalizing for slaughter days. Despite declining on a YOY basis, dairy cow slaughter rates remained at the second highest seasonal level experienced throughout the past 23 years, finishing 4.5% above three year average seasonal figures. The MOM increase in slaughter rates of 1.4% was consistent with the ten year average November – December seasonal build of 1.3%. ’18-’19 annual dairy cow slaughter rates increased 4.4% on a YOY basis, reaching a 33 year high level, however ’19-’20 YTD dairy cow slaughter rates have declined 1.2% YOY throughout the first quarter of the production season. The Dec ’19 YOY decline in U.S. dairy cow slaughter rates was the third experienced in a row and the fourth experienced throughout the past five months. Dairy cow slaughter rates had finished higher on a YOY basis over 30 consecutive months prior to the recently experienced declines. U.S. dairy cow slaughter rates have declined by a total of 1.1% on a YOY basis over the past five months. Recent declines in slaughter rates have contributed to the U.S. milk cow herd rebounding from the three and a half year low level experienced during Aug ’19. The U.S. milk cow herd has increased by a total of 22,000 head throughout the past four months, rebounding to a nine month high level, overall. The U.S. milk cow herd currently stands at 9.339 million head, which remains 14,000 head below previous year figures and 99,000 head below the 23 year high level experienced during Jan ’18, however. The most significant Dec ’19 MOM increase in dairy cow slaughter was experienced within Standard Federal Region 9 (Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada), while dairy cow slaughter rates declined most significantly on a MOM basis throughout Standard Federal Region 3 (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia). YOY declines in Dec ’19 dairy cow slaughter rates were led by Standard Federal Region 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas), while dairy cow slaughter rates increased most significantly on a YOY basis throughout Standard Federal Region 3 (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia).