Fewer Make More

Dairy herds of 500 or more cows now represent 3 percent of U.S. herds, but those 3 percent make 42 percent of the milk.

Overall, cow numbers are falling: The 20 major dairy states had 7.77 million dairy cows as of mid-June, down slightly from 7.8

million in March.

One industry leader said that the industry-funded buyout program was being fairly well accepted in California, the country’s largest dairy state.