Data / Milk cows on 1 January / California

Milk cows on 1 January in California

Milk cows on 1 January in California was 1,710,000 head in 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. That is unchanged from 2025.

2026, head1,710,000
Change on 20250%
Series high1,840,0002009
Series low750,0001970

Next release: Saturday, 30 January 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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Milk cows on 1 January in California, 1950 to 2026

750K1M1.25M1.5M1.75M2M195019611972198319942005201620261950: 840,000 head1951: 832,000 head1952: 849,000 head1953: 874,000 head1954: 900,000 head1955: 909,000 head1956: 918,000 head1957: 927,000 head1958: 927,000 head1959: 908,000 head1960: 899,000 head1961: 899,000 head1962: 881,000 head1963: 881,000 head1964: 867,000 head1965: 858,000 head1966: 849,000 head1967: 841,000 head1968: 833,000 head1969: 816,000 head1970: 750,000 head1971: 758,000 head1972: 766,000 head1973: 789,000 head1974: 810,000 head1975: 800,000 head1976: 810,000 head1977: 809,000 head1978: 846,000 head1979: 860,000 head1980: 878,000 head1981: 909,000 head1982: 940,000 head1983: 940,000 head1984: 957,000 head1985: 1,005,000 head1986: 1,076,000 head1987: 1,062,000 head1988: 1,071,000 head1989: 1,095,000 head1990: 1,115,000 head1991: 1,150,000 head1992: 1,160,000 head1993: 1,200,000 head1994: 1,230,000 head1995: 1,270,000 head1996: 1,320,000 head1997: 1,380,000 head1998: 1,400,000 head1999: 1,440,000 head2000: 1,490,000 head2001: 1,560,000 head2002: 1,620,000 head2003: 1,670,000 head2004: 1,700,000 head2005: 1,740,000 head2006: 1,770,000 head2007: 1,790,000 head2008: 1,835,000 head2009: 1,840,000 head2010: 1,760,000 head2011: 1,750,000 head2012: 1,780,000 head2013: 1,780,000 head2014: 1,780,000 head2015: 1,780,000 head2016: 1,770,000 head2017: 1,755,000 head2018: 1,740,000 head2019: 1,730,000 head2020: 1,725,000 head2021: 1,720,000 head2022: 1,720,000 head2023: 1,720,000 head2024: 1,710,000 head2025: 1,710,000 head2026: 1,710,000 head500K1M1.5M2M19501976200220262026: 1,710,000 head
head. Source: USDA NASS, Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. Retrieved 2026-10-18, published 2026-01-30.
All 77 values
Periodhead
20261,710,000
20251,710,000
20241,710,000
20231,720,000
20221,720,000
20211,720,000
20201,725,000
20191,730,000
20181,740,000
20171,755,000
20161,770,000
20151,780,000
20141,780,000
20131,780,000
20121,780,000
20111,750,000
20101,760,000
20091,840,000
20081,835,000
20071,790,000
20061,770,000
20051,740,000
20041,700,000
20031,670,000
20021,620,000
20011,560,000
20001,490,000
19991,440,000
19981,400,000
19971,380,000
19961,320,000
19951,270,000
19941,230,000
19931,200,000
19921,160,000
19911,150,000
19901,115,000
19891,095,000
19881,071,000
19871,062,000
19861,076,000
19851,005,000
1984957,000
1983940,000
1982940,000
1981909,000
1980878,000
1979860,000
1978846,000
1977809,000
1976810,000
1975800,000
1974810,000
1973789,000
1972766,000
1971758,000
1970750,000
1969816,000
1968833,000
1967841,000
1966849,000
1965858,000
1964867,000
1963881,000
1962881,000
1961899,000
1960899,000
1959908,000
1958927,000
1957927,000
1956918,000
1955909,000
1954900,000
1953874,000
1952849,000
1951832,000
1950840,000

Compared with United States

Place2026
California1,710,000
United States9,568,300

California compared with nearby places

Alabama: 2,000 headArizona: 195,000 headArkansas: 2,000 headCalifornia: 1,710,000 headColorado: 210,000 headFlorida: 98,000 headGeorgia: 89,000 headIdaho: 725,000 headIllinois: 76,000 headIowa: 245,000 headKansas: 225,000 headKentucky: 38,000 headMichigan: 460,000 headMinnesota: 455,000 headMissouri: 54,000 headMontana: 8,000 headNebraska: 50,000 headNew Mexico: 230,000 headNew York: 650,000 headNorth Dakota: 9,000 headOhio: 255,000 headOklahoma: 44,000 headOregon: 120,000 headPennsylvania: 455,000 headSouth Dakota: 240,000 headTennessee: 22,000 headTexas: 705,000 headVirginia: 65,000 headWashington: 235,000 headWisconsin: 1,285,000 headWyoming: 9,000 head
  • Under 20K
  • 20K to 70K
  • 70K to 200K
  • 200K to 240K
  • 240K to 460K
  • 460K and over
  • No data
Milk cows on 1 January, 2026, head. California is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Rankings

Definition

Cows that have calved and are kept for milk production, on farms on 1 January, in head, as estimated by USDA NASS in its January Cattle report. Dry cows are included; heifers that have not calved are not.

NASS also publishes an annual average number of milk cows with its milk production estimates; this series is the 1 January count. USDA NASS survey estimates for the nation and the states; the District of Columbia is not covered, and states that NASS groups as "other states" to avoid disclosing single operations have no value for that year. NASS revises recent years when it publishes later reports, and values it withholds are left out.

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How to cite

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats. Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2026). Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states (Milk cows on 1 January, California, 1950 to 2026) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/

MLA 9

Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states, Milk cows on 1 January, California, 1950 to 2026. U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/california. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2026. Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. Milk cows on 1 January, California, 1950 to 2026. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/california.

Harvard

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (2026) Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states, Milk cows on 1 January, California, 1950 to 2026 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/california (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{department_milk_cows_on_1_2026,
  author = {{U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service}},
  title = {{Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states: Milk cows on 1 January, California, 1950 to 2026}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/california. Publisher attribution: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats. Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service
TI  - Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states: Milk cows on 1 January, California, 1950 to 2026
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/30
PB  - U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/california
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/california.
N1  - Publisher attribution: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats. Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the milk cows on 1 January in California?

Milk cows on 1 January in California was 1,710,000 head in 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. That is unchanged from 2025.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Quick Stats, CATTLE, COWS, MILK - INVENTORY, first of January, survey, nation and states. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-18.

What was the highest milk cows on 1 January in California?

1,840,000 head in 2009, the highest value since 1950 in this series.

Milk cows on 1 January elsewhere in United States

Related statistics for California

All statistics for California | California in figures