Prices for U.S. dairy cows — both for the beef market and as herd replacements — surged in April, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.
Estimated U.S. April 2014 cull cow prices (beef and dairy combined) averaged $104 per hundredweight. The average is up $2 per hundredweight from March’s revised estimate and $21.60 per hundredweight more than April 2013. At that price, a 1,300-pound cull cow is worth $1,352.

Year-to-date, the 2014 average cull cow price is $97.43 per hundredweight. Meanwhile, replacement dairy cow prices jumped to levels not seen since 2008. U.S. quarterly replacement dairy cow prices averaged $1,810 per head in April, up $370 per head from January. The last time...