DairyTalk 303: 9.57 Million Cows, 3.9 Million Replacements: A Structural Imbalance in U.S. Dairy - by Helmut Demmelhuber

This episode is based on an industry analysis examining the
growing imbalance within the U.S. dairy sector. While the
national milking herd has reached record levels, the pool of
replacement heifers has tightened significantly. The shift toward
beef-on-dairy breeding strategies, combined with genomic progress
that extends productive lifespans, has reduced the number of
animals entering the replacement pipeline. What initially appears
as improved efficiency at farm level may translate into
structural supply constraints at industry scale. With substantial
new processing capacity coming online, the central question is
whether milk production can expand fast enough to meet future
demand beyond 2027. With comments on a "The Bullvine"-article
(February 23rd, 2026) by Andrew Hunt: https://www.thebullvine.com