US dairy cows too expensive to feed, causing herd to plummet
Dairy cows stand in a pen at a cattle farm in West Canaan, Ohio.
The number of dairy cows in the US is plunging at a pace not seen in more than a decade, signaling elevated costs for products like butter.
The cost of feeding dairy cows has been soaring, said Nate Donnay, director of dairy market insight at StoneX Group. That’s forcing dairy farmers to slash herds. Corn futures in Chicago are up 29% from a year ago and touched an eight-year high back in May.
