The Great Britain (GB) milking herd fell 2.2% year-on-year in July, though milk deliveries increased by 3%.

The latest figures released from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) marks the largest annual decline in the milking herd since January 2021.

As of July 1, 2026, the GB milking herd stood just under 1.6 million head, down 34,500 year-on-year.

The youngstock herd stood at 869,000 head, down 36,000 head year-on-year or 3.9%.

In the under-2-year-old category, the numbers of cattle dropped 2.2%, making up 19,500 head.

This was a larger drop than the same period the year before, which saw a 1.8% drop.

According to AHDB, there has been a consistent reduction in dairy female births since early 2023.

Favourable dairy-beef economics and the improvement in sexed semen technology has led to a reduction in dairy heifer replacements being born.

This has led to concern over the availability of dairy replacements going forward.

Category breakdown

The biggest change year-on-year came from the 2-4-year-old category, which dropped 3.9%, making up 29,800 head.

The 4-6-year-old herd has made the only increase in numbers over the period, increasing 0.5% and representing just over 2,500 head.

Dairy cows aged 6-8-years-old and over 8-years-old have both declined in number.

AHDB said: “With the milk and beef price having been up, more culls may have been held back to gain the income from milk sales and then getting an extra beef calf from the cow.

“Going into the year ending July 1, 2026, the milk price dropped off significantly, and having had the calf, it was natural for those older animals to be culled.”

Despite the 2.2% reduction in the herd, GB milk volumes have increased 3%, totalling 12.9 billion litres in the 12 months ending July 2026.

“This shows that despite a decrease in the size of the dairy herd, efficiency and productivity improvements have contributed to an increase in production," AHDB said.