How Much A Dairy Cow Costs in 2025

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There’s something truly special about dairy cows—they’re the heart and soul of any homestead. These amazing animals transform simple grass into nutritious, delicious milk, and it’s no wonder folks everywhere are taking notice. Lately, the burning question on many new homesteaders’ minds is, “How much does a dairy cow cost in 2025?”

As more people turn to raw milk and sustainable living, adding a dairy cow to your small farm is becoming an exciting possibility. But before you dive in, it’s essential to understand not just the upfront cost of the cow, but also the ongoing expenses that come with keeping one happy and healthy.

In 2025, prices can vary widely—depending on where you live, the breed you choose, the cow’s age, and even the type of feed you prefer. In this post, I’ll walk you through the basics of acquiring your new dairy friend, share some of my personal experiences, and break down the additional costs for maintenance and care.

So, let’s get started on this journey together and uncover what it really takes to welcome a dairy cow into your family and homestead!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.  

Will owning a dairy cow save you money?

The answer to this question mostly depends on whether or not you are able to commit for the long haul. The average market price for a gallon of raw milk in the US is now upwards of $12 per gallon. That means if your family goes through 4 gallons a week, you’d be paying at least $200 over the course of one month.

Now, let’s multiply that again to get a rough yearly cost: $200 x 12 = $2400. This may not quite be enough to cover the investment cost of a good dairy cow, but when you consider the fact that your dairy cow is likely to produce 4 gallons of milk in a single day, as opposed to a single week… well, that certainly changes things!

It’s true, a nice, standard-sized jersey milk cow easily produces 4-5 gallons a day, as an average. If allowed to produce 300 days out of the year, that adds up to a whopping 1200 gallons per year. So, even if you only kept 4 gallons a week for yourself, there is the potential to bring in $12,000 over the course of a year by selling the rest of the milk.

Will a dairy cow save you money? If you’re already buying raw milk, yes, and she can even make you money, if you do it right.

How Much Does it Cost To Buy A Dairy Cow?

I have to give a very general answer, because cow prices can vary so much. But, I will gladly give our experience. For reference, we live in Tennessee. In the United States, you can expect a dairy cow to cost between $2,000 and $5,000 or more. This is for a cow that’s already bred and/or in milk.

Much of the cost variability is from differences in breeds and certain genetic markers in dairy cows. For example, a miniature jersey cow usually costs more than a holstein cow. This is due to their rarity and increasing demand over the last couple of years.

High-producing breeds exclusively used by dairy farms (Holstein, Jersey, and Brown Swiss to name a few) may cost more. The quality and type of cow definitely matters when it comes to how much your initial investment will be. However, that doesn’t mean that more dual-purpose breeds, like Dexters, are bad. It’s a good idea to do some research on the most popular dairy breeds, then choose based on what qualities you want in your own cow.

Some traits can bump up a dairy cow’s price. For example, hornless (polled) cows are generally more popular than horned ones, and many homesteaders prefer cows with the A2A2 gene, which may yield easier-to-digest milk. Other factors like demeanor, age, and calving history also influence cost—a first-time bred heifer might be cheaper than a seasoned cow, yet still more expensive than a heifer that hasn’t bred yet.

If you want a more in-demand breed (like a jersey) that checks all the boxes above, is trained, and already in milk and/or bred, then you can definitely expect to pay on the higher end of the spectrum.

Other Costs of Owning A Dairy Cow

Feed and Supplements

The cost of feed and supplements is one of the biggest expenses when owning a dairy cow. A cow’s diet should consist mostly of roughage, like hay or grass. It’s a good idea to bulk buy hay for storage, ideally from a local farmer. Purchasing that much hay at a time can allow you to pay a lower price than you would at the local feed store or co-op.

In our area, we can find good quality hay for about $5 per square bale. Depending on a cow’s size, she can go through up to a whole square bale per day. We also feed our cows a very small amount of grain and alfalfa, two to three pounds per head, at our daily milking. This roughly comes out to another $1-2 a day per cow, but it’s worth it because it’s a nice treat and noticeably increases milk yield.

Feeding a cow high-quality feed ensures maximum milk production and allows for optimal health, but it also means higher costs. For us it was worth it, because we wanted to get as much milk as possible (which obviously has value in itself). We also don’t vaccinate our livestock and try to avoid unnecessary vet bills. Giving high quality feed and supplements is really just a trade-off.

How much does it cost to feed a dairy cow?

Depending on what you decide to feed, you can expect your total cost of hay and feed for a single cow to be somewhere between $700-1400 per year. A lot of this will greatly depend on the length of winter in your area, an how much pasture you have. The longer you can keep grass available, and the less you have to be feeding hay, the cheaper it will be.

Health Care and Artificial Insemination

Ideally, vet care bills for dairy farmers would be kept to a minimum. But in reality, emergencies do happen. And particularly as a beginner, procedures tend to come up that you either don’t want, or simply don’t know how to do yourself.  Unexpected illnesses or injuries are a real possibility.

Unless the previous owner has already performed it, bringing a new cow to your farm or homestead typically means doing a round of disease testing. She also may need hoof trimming once a year or so.

Artificial insemination (AI) techs can be lumped into this category of healthcare, too. The majority of our healthcare related expenses actually were due to AI, because we had issues and had to try three separate times. Yep, we did a lot of hard work and spent a lot of money to not ever get our cow pregnant via AI. But honestly, I think that was mostly because we were inexperienced, working with our first family milk cow (that was actually a first-time heifer). She also was much more compact than most jersey cows, which can make breeding more tricky. Much time and money would have been saved by going straight to direct breeding with a bull. The bright side is, we learned a ton, including how to give shots and pull blood ourselves. In the end, this will save us a lot of money in vet bills.

In the end, we spend an average of $500/year on these kind of expenses.

Milking Equipment

Milking a dairy cow on a homestead requires specific equipment to ensure that the milk is harvested cleanly and efficiently. Some basic milking equipment we use on our homestead includes:

• A milking pail
• Strainer and funnel
• White microfiber cloths
• Mason jars or a pail to transfer the milk into

This is the bare minimum of what you will need to milk a dairy cow. And there are many good reasons to keep things like udder balm, teat dips, and essential oils consistently on hand as well.

Unless you are going to be milking your cow by hand, you will need some sort of milking machine. These come with a wide range of capabilities. You can get basic ones that operate like a manual hand pump (which I personally don’t see the point of), or really fancy ones that don’t require much effort at all from you.

The most basic supplies to get you started milking by hand will run an average cost of at least $100. A milking machine will cost you an additional $200-$2000 depending on how fancy you want to get.

More Costs of Owning A Dairy Cow

There is a possibility that you may also still need to add a structure of some kind to your homestead, if you don’t already have one. While a beef cow will do just fine with as little as a single shade tree, dairy cows typically need at least a 3 sided shelter if where you live experiences extreme winter cold. A barn closed off to drafts is even better.

Fencing is another cost to take into consideration when starting with a dairy cow. If you don’t already have fencing in place ready, a single polywire with reel is a good option. We have also used the Gallagher SmartFence in the past.

Let’s be honest—setting up proper shelter and fencing isn’t cheap. In many cases, these essentials can cost more than the cow itself! So if you’re thinking about welcoming a dairy cow into your homestead someday, it’s a smart move to budget for these extra expenses right from the start.

Some other small, miscellaneous expenses to consider are tangible items like halters, ropes, brushes, etc. It’s also helpful to have a drench gun for supplements and medicines.

Is buying a dairy cow worth it?

Depending on which route you take, you may not save money owning a dairy cow vs. buying dairy at the store. However, you also might! There is strong potential for side income, if you are able to sell excess milk. Just remember to check the laws of your state first!

Even if you don’t save much, the quality of product is often better than anything you can buy.

Another financial benefit to owning a dairy cow that’s worth mentioning is being able to sell a yearly calf. Depending on sex and breed, a young calf can sell for anywhere between $100-1000.

In our experience, owning a dairy cow was a very satisfying and rewarding experience, making it worth the cost for us. In the end, the decision to invest in a dairy cow is one to weigh carefully, taking into account your family’s needs and desires.

The actual cost to own a dairy cow

So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty and talk about the actual cost of owning a dairy cow, everything included. For the purposes of this cost breakdown, I’m going to use what I feel is the most accurate, average amount one would spend owning a dairy cow for one year in my part of the country (Southeast US). Obviously, there are a lot of variables to this, but I hope it’s still helpful.

Startup costs of owning a cow

• Bred dairy cow: $2,000-$5,000
• Electric fencing system: $500-700
• Stanchion and milking equipment: $200-1000

Total Startup Costs: Around $2,700-6,700

Yearly costs of owning a cow

• Dairy ration: $300
• Hay & alfalfa: $500-700
• Healthcare/AI: $500
• Milking supplies: $50-250

Total Yearly Costs: $1,350-1,750

​As you decide whether or not adding a dairy cow to your homestead is right for your family, it’s a good idea to take all costs into consideration. Dairy cows can be expensive, but in our experience, she more than pays for herself through the milk and yearly calf she provides.

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