GB dairy population: April 2026 posts another record low

The GB milking herd totalled 1.59 million head as of April 2026, another lowest number recorded, and a 2.0% decline compared to the same month the previous year. The GB total herd stood at 2.46 million head, a year-on-year decline of 2.0%. A fall was seen across all age groups with the exception of the 4-6 years age group.

The average age of a cow in the GB milking herd now stands at 4.56 years, very slightly older than last year’s figures.

Figure 1. GB female dairy population (million head)Source: BCMS

Figure 1 is a line chart showing GB milking herd on the left vertical axis and the one on the right vertical axis shows the youngstock from April 2019 till April 2026 (million head). Two lines are shown:

Milking herd (light blue line)
Youngstock (dark blue line)

Looking into the different age categories, cows aged between 2-4 years continued to record the largest decline of nearly 31,000 head, followed by those under 2 years, having fallen by nearly 20,000 head. This downward trend in youngstock (less than 2 years) has continued over the last three years.

Cows aged 6-8 years witnessed the smallest decline of 3,000 head year-on-year followed by those over 8-yrs seeing a decline of 5,000 head.

The 4-6 years is the only category to have continued the increase, with a gain of 7,000 head compared to the previous year. This category has been increasing from January 2025 onwards following the youngstock boom of 2021, which is now maturing through the milking herd.

Many of these cows will now be on, or close to their final lactations meaning cow numbers could contract further in the near term.

Record milk volumes in the last milk season (2025/26) despite an overall decline in the milking herd denotes a move towards greater productivity due to higher yields per cow. The declining youngstock numbers are a concern for the sector as fewer heifers are available to replace older and lower-performing cows. With commodity prices under pressure and cull cow prices (above 5-yr average), farmers will be keen to replace older cows in the herd but may face constraints in terms of cost and availability.

Figure 2. Annual change in GB dairy herd by age as on 1 April 2026Source: BCMS

Figure 2 is a bar chart showing change in GB dairy herd by different age categories. The change is shown on the left vertical axis (thousand head). There are two colour bars shown:

<2 years, 2-4 years, 4-6 years, 6-8 years, 8+ years (light blue bars)

Total and milking herd (dark blue bars)

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