Canada’s dairy herd has reached 945,000 head, the highest total in the country since 2014.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, last year Canada had a total dairy herd of 930,300 on July 1. On the same day this year Canada’s total dairy cow and heifer that have calved was up 2% from last year.
Canada has had a fluctuating dairy herd for the past few years. In 2012, the herd was at 952,100 head and it saw a slight increase the next year reaching 952,300 head. The dairy herd dropped by 3,300 head in 2014 to a herd count of 949,000 cows. It fell again in 2015 with the Canadian dairy cow herd dropped by 14,700 head to a mark of 934,300 cows.
Dairy replacement heifers increased by 2% on July 1, 2017, as well. A total of 454,300 dairy replacement heifers were counted.
Compared to Canada the U.S. has about 10-times as many dairy cows and dairy replacements. As of July 1, there were 9.4 million head of dairy cows and 4.2 million replacement heifers.
Source: Dairy Agenda