There are currently an estimated 1,724,000 dairy cows in California, which is 5,000 more than a year ago and 2,000 less in 2019. These changes are very small and well within the margin of error in these data. There is no evidence that the LCFS has caused growth in dairy cow numbers. Anaerobic digesters are much more cost effective on large farms. It is possible the digester boom has caused consolidation in dairy farms. The number of dairy farms in the state has declined by 50% in the last 20 years, while the number of cows per farm doubled over the same period. Since 2019, the number of cows per California farm has grown slightly faster than it did before the digester boom, which would be consistent with the digester boom spurring growth. However, since 2019 the number of cows per farm has grown at a faster rate outside California than it has in California, which suggests that California digesters are not driving increases in dairy farm size. More >>
