Data / Milk cows on 1 January / Iowa

Milk cows on 1 January in Iowa

Milk cows on 1 January in Iowa was 245,000 head in 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. That is unchanged from 2025.

2026, head245,000
Change on 20250%
Series high1,194,0001950
Series low187,0002005

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

Get an email when a new figure is out or this one is revised.
Keep it in a collection in your library.

Milk cows on 1 January in Iowa, 1950 to 2026

0250K500K750K1M1.25M195019611972198319942005201620261950: 1,194,000 head1951: 1,170,000 head1952: 1,123,000 head1953: 1,145,000 head1954: 1,145,000 head1955: 1,122,000 head1956: 1,100,000 head1957: 1,089,000 head1958: 1,045,000 head1959: 982,000 head1960: 943,000 head1961: 934,000 head1962: 925,000 head1963: 888,000 head1964: 861,000 head1965: 827,000 head1966: 744,000 head1967: 692,000 head1968: 644,000 head1969: 605,000 head1970: 508,000 head1971: 486,000 head1972: 465,000 head1973: 442,000 head1974: 410,000 head1975: 405,000 head1976: 395,000 head1977: 392,000 head1978: 380,000 head1979: 374,000 head1980: 367,000 head1981: 370,000 head1982: 370,000 head1983: 362,000 head1984: 358,000 head1985: 345,000 head1986: 360,000 head1987: 308,000 head1988: 299,000 head1989: 290,000 head1990: 285,000 head1991: 275,000 head1992: 270,000 head1993: 265,000 head1994: 265,000 head1995: 250,000 head1996: 245,000 head1997: 235,000 head1998: 225,000 head1999: 220,000 head2000: 215,000 head2001: 215,000 head2002: 205,000 head2003: 208,000 head2004: 196,000 head2005: 187,000 head2006: 200,000 head2007: 210,000 head2008: 215,000 head2009: 215,000 head2010: 215,000 head2011: 210,000 head2012: 205,000 head2013: 205,000 head2014: 205,000 head2015: 210,000 head2016: 210,000 head2017: 215,000 head2018: 220,000 head2019: 220,000 head2020: 215,000 head2021: 220,000 head2022: 225,000 head2023: 240,000 head2024: 240,000 head2025: 245,000 head2026: 245,000 head0500K1M1.5M19501976200220262026: 245,000 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
2026245,000
2025245,000
2024240,000
2023240,000
2022225,000
2021220,000
2020215,000
2019220,000
2018220,000
2017215,000
2016210,000
2015210,000
2014205,000
2013205,000
2012205,000
2011210,000
2010215,000
2009215,000
2008215,000
2007210,000
2006200,000
2005187,000
2004196,000
2003208,000
2002205,000
2001215,000
2000215,000
1999220,000
1998225,000
1997235,000
1996245,000
1995250,000
1994265,000
1993265,000
1992270,000
1991275,000
1990285,000
1989290,000
1988299,000
1987308,000
1986360,000
1985345,000
1984358,000
1983362,000
1982370,000
1981370,000
1980367,000
1979374,000
1978380,000
1977392,000
1976395,000
1975405,000
1974410,000
1973442,000
1972465,000
1971486,000
1970508,000
1969605,000
1968644,000
1967692,000
1966744,000
1965827,000
1964861,000
1963888,000
1962925,000
1961934,000
1960943,000
1959982,000
19581,045,000
19571,089,000
19561,100,000
19551,122,000
19541,145,000
19531,145,000
19521,123,000
19511,170,000
19501,194,000

Compared with United States

Place2026
Iowa245,000
United States9,568,300

Iowa 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. Iowa 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.

Report a problem with this figure

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, Iowa, 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, Iowa, 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/iowa. 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, Iowa, 1950 to 2026. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/iowa.

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, Iowa, 1950 to 2026 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/iowa (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, Iowa, 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/iowa. 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, Iowa, 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/iowa
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/milk-cows/iowa.
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  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

What is the latest milk cows on 1 January in Iowa? Cite the source.
get_value {"indicator":"milk_cows_inventory","place":"us-state-19"}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/value?indicator=milk_cows_inventory&place=us-state-19

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

What is the milk cows on 1 January in Iowa?

Milk cows on 1 January in Iowa was 245,000 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 Iowa?

1,194,000 head in 1950, the highest value since 1950 in this series.

Milk cows on 1 January elsewhere in United States

Related statistics for Iowa

All statistics for Iowa | Iowa in figures