How Much Milk Does a Cow Produce in a Lifetime? Donna Larson, June 24, 2024July 11, 2024 Homesteaders take a huge step when they bring home a family milk cow, often feeling anxious about making the right choice. Should we do it? What kind? How much? We’re answering your questions about milk cows including how much milk does a cow produce in a lifetime? How Much Milk Does a Cow Produce in a Lifetime? Answering the question of how much milk a cow produces in a lifetime involves considering many variables. Factors such as breed, diet, and genetics play important roles in determining how many gallons of milk a cow will give. For this reason, I’m going to answer the question from the average homesteader’s perspective. Let’s say that we are dealing with a modest family of four to six people, who are just looking to provide milk and dairy products for their own household. Let’s also assume they find an average jersey cow for their homestead, as that is the most sought after cow for such purposes. One could expect the average jersey cow to produce 21,600 gallons of milk in her lifetime if given 12 lactations. (Some cows will have fewer lactations and some will have more.) Here’s a better idea of what that looks like. 21,600 gallons of milk equals: 185,760 pounds of milk over her lifetime 1,486,080 (8 ounce) glasses of milk 14,400 (half gallon) cartons of ice cream 259,200 (half pints) of greek style yogurt containers 2,160 pounds of cheese When did you last purchase a pound of cheese? How many yogurt containers have you purchased in your adult life? Isn’t that an incredible amount of milk? Timing, Diet, Breeds Of course, this is adding up all of the milk that the average dairy cow will produce over her lifetime if she gives six gallons per day. When she’s young, as a first time heifer, she’ll have a lighter lactation than when she’s older. She’ll produce more during the weeks she’s in peak lactation, usually around her third lactation. Nutritious foods are one of the main catalysts to drive higher yields in the lifetime production of dairy cows. If she’s fed less supplemented protein, she’ll produce less as well. A large holstein will have a significantly higher average milk production than a jersey, and a jersey will have a higher lifetime production than a dexter. Answering Your Milk Production Questions: These are questions that I frequently hear from those interested in possibly keeping a family cow one day, or those who are just curious about what we do here on our farm. What Types of Cows Are Dairy Cows? Dairy cows have been specifically bred over generations from the highest producing cows to create better high-producing cows. That first happened regionally to get very specific traits out of these milk cows. The jersey, for example, originates from the Isle of Jersey, one of the channel islands between France and England. The first jerseys were brought to the U.S. in 1850. The seven major dairy cows in the United States today are: Ayrshire Brown Swiss Guernsey Holstein Jersey Milking Shorthorn Red and White Holstein Dairy cows generally don’t carry much muscle and fat on their skeletal frames because they are built for putting their energy into milk. Their bones, particularly hips and pins, are far more pronounced than beef cows. Selective breeding for genetics with higher lifetime milk production has brought these breeds into the milking herd of U.S. dairy cattle. I Bred My Jersey to an Angus. Can I Milk the Angus Jersey Cross? Absolutely. Covering the Jersey cow with an Angus is a popular cross because Angus cattle are known for calving ease. Many homesteaders end up with Jersey Angus cross breeds, and ask this question. Additionally, many new homesteaders find this cross breed on the market for sale and wonder if it’s feasible to keep them as milk cows. Consider any beef cross as a milking cow for your homestead. This is the sweet spot for many homesteaders for a cow that gives a modest volume of milk, yet it’s enough to feed a calf plus extra for the family. Cross breeds are hardier cattle then full-blooded dairy cows, making them resistant to many of the issues we see in strong dairy lines. The Angus Jersey cross will be unlikely to have any metabolic problems such as milk fever. They also hold weight easier than straight Jerseys, yet still produce more milk than an Angus. Angus cattle almost always carry the beta-casein protein status of A2/A2. There are many claims that this is an easier to digest milk protein than others. The best part about keeping a beef-dairy cross is that she raises excellent beef for your freezer too. The Jersey Angus cross makes an excellent dual purpose cow for the homestead. Her first lactation will probably be very low, but those that follow will be higher. Can You Milk a Beef Cow? This question comes up frequently. All mammals produce milk, and cows are mammals. While a beef cow produces milk, she generally will only make enough milk to feed her calf. However, once that calf is weaned from it’s mother, the cow could be milked. Don’t expect six gallons a day from her though. Additionally, beef cows have a higher fat content in the little bit of cow’s milk that they do have. It’s a denser, nutrient-rich milk for the calf, which makes sense because she produces less total volume. Do Cows Have to Be Pregnant to Produce Milk? Yes. As mentioned, cows need to have babies to produce milk, just like all other mammals. This creates an endless cycle of needing to breed back the milk cow so that she’ll have another baby, and produce more milk in another lactation. This also provides continuous beef because the reality is, we can’t keep all of the babies. What doesn’t make beef is usually sold as a possible future milk cow for another homesteader, unless of course, you’re married to a man who falls in love with all of the calves. This can be a problem, but I digress. We look at these calves as additional resources to steward. They help fund the cost of keeping the dairy cows. Dairy heifers and beef steers are both at all time records in market value. Selling them, or using them for beef help our overall gross margin on our small farm. Also consider that to become pregnant, the cow will need a bull to be partnered with. Breeding possibilities include, keeping a bull, renting/borrowing a bull, or artificial insemination. Each of these options will run an additional cost for the homestead. We generally want our heifers to breed so that their first calving date is when they’re at least two years old, and they are at least 75% of their full grown size. Then we want them bred back so that they calve every 12-15 months. How Does a Cow Produce Milk? Once the cow calves, her body’s hormones naturally trigger her mammary glands to begin working in order to feed her calf. The cow eats grasses and grains, and her ruminating digestive system converts energy to nutrients. Her body sends the nutrients to the mammary system to produce milk. A healthy, well-fed dairy cow will always have more than enough milk to feed her calf, which is why we are able get milk from her even while calf-sharing. The more she’s milked and fed, the more milk she’ll produce. Once we stop milking cows and wean calves off of them, the cows will dry off and stop producing milk until she calves again. We give our cows at least two months of dry time before they calve and freshen again. How Long Will a Cow Produce Milk? Cows are individuals, but again, we’ll go with Jersey cows for the sake of answering such questions. The average cow produces for 10-12 months per lactation. She can go longer if desired by continuing to milk her and feeding her well. Each cow can keep a calving interval every year for a new lactation until they’re in their teens, averaging around 10-12 lactations total. Some can go longer, it just depends on the cow’s health in those older years. There are stories of cows successfully calving and giving plenty of milk at almost 20 years old; however, there are times when a cow really struggles at calving when she’s 11, and it’s time to call it quits. Does Milking Hurt the Cow? Under normal circumstances, milking cows should not hurt them when they’re handled with proper milking techniques. If she has a lot edema at calving or mastitis, she may be sore. In those events, milking is probably uncomfortable for the cow, but it still must be done. Relieving her by milking is the best course of action to reduce pain. Milk will naturally flow into the teat. Simply pinch the top of the teat between your thumb and forefinger, and use your hand and other fingers to gently squeeze the milk from the top down, out of the teat and into your bucket. Never pull on the cows teats to milk her out. This can break internal capillaries and cause blood in your milk. Yanking and pulling will cause pain, and she’s sure to tell you about it with her feet. What Do Dairy Cows Eat? The industry standard in dairy farming is to feed a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) by free choice. They fill bulk feeders with a mix of grasses and grains, like alfalfa and bermuda with some corn and sorghum silage. The cows are free to eat as much or as little as they want between milking times. On the homestead, there are all kinds of ways to feed your milk cow for production. If she has good grass genetics, you can keep her on grass, feeding her alfalfa during milking time. Generally, we feed free choice coastal bermuda hay and high quality, loose minerals. We choose to feed a cattle ration from our nearest feed mill that contains cottonseed hulls, soy bean meal, ground corn, and crimped oats and barley. The feed mix also gets changed according to what can be accessed by season. Sometimes that means ground dehydrated citrus peels or ground peanut shells. It also has sodium bicarbonate to help prevent bloating and maintain healthy digestion. How Much Water Does a Cow Drink Everyday? Dairy cows need to drink an average of 35 gallons of water daily to maintain production. That’s about a full bathtub of water everyday. During the hottest months, she’ll need more water to avoid heat stress illness, especially while producing milk. How Often Are Cows Milked on Dairy Farms? The dairy industry will continue to milk cows at least twice a day during their lactations. Frequent milkings mean the cows will continue to produce as much as they can, adding to the farmer’s bottom line. Sometimes, newly freshened, high-yielding dairy cows need to be milked three times a day. A cow that is milked once daily will quickly become a financial loss for the farmer because she’ll produce less milk but eat the same. The farmer has to maintain his herd size requiring each of cow to produce a high average milk yield. For this reason, dairy farmers will choose to send those cows off of their farms in favor of higher producing cows. These are culled cows, and oftentimes, they make excellent homestead cows. What’s the Most Amount of Milk That a Cow Can Make? The most cow’s milk seen in lactation records kept by a dairy came from a Holstein cow in Indiana. She produced 486,300 pounds, or more than 56,540 gallons of milk over her lifetime. Incredibly, that’s more than twice the average lifetime production of other dairy cows. She obviously had been bred for the highest producing genetics. She was probably milked three times per day and had several lactations to achieve such a collective volume. Summary of How Much Milk Does a Cow Produce in a Lifetime So what do you think? Now that you know how much milk does a cow produce in a lifetime, is it worth keeping a milk cow on your homestead? Even if this isn’t something that you’re even considering, I hope that you’ve learned the answers to these frequently asked questions that we get from so many inquiring minds, and that perhaps I’ve left you with a positive impact on your appreciation for the family dairy cow. Happy Homesteading! Donna @ Hazel Belle Farm Donna and her family have been homesteading for most of their 20+ years together in some shape or fashion. She currently lives on their 20 acre farm where they grow as much food as possible. What started as a just a few laying hens, has grown into large gardens, pastured poultry, pork, and lamb. They are continuously evolving their small farm to not suit their family’s needs, but also providing to their local community. Donna’s favorite part of the family farm is her self-built micro-dairy, where she gets to love on dairy cows while serving her local community. Milking, cheesemaking, and processing dairy have become the soul of their homestead and the center of their farm. Dairy Homesteading