Since 2015, France has seen a significant decline in its dairy cow population, according to a report from Agreste, the statistics service of the Ministry of Agriculture, published in September. The total number of cows in the country dropped from 7.5 million in 2015 to 6.4 million in 2025. This reduction is largely due to a decrease in the number of farms, which fell by 28% over the same period, from 136,000 to 100,500. The decline in dairy farming has been more pronounced than in beef cattle farming, with dairy farms experiencing a 15.9% reduction in cows compared to 13.4% for beef farms. Additionally, the number of dairy farms has decreased by 34.8%, while beef cattle farms have seen a 19.3% decline. Meanwhile, the average number of cows per dairy farm has increased by 29.0%, rising from 62.5 to 80.7. The decline in dairy farming is less severe in certain regions of France, particularly in the "dairy crescent" areas, which include the Grand West, the North, the East, Franche-Comté, the Northern Alps, and the Massif Central. In these regions, the reduction in dairy cows is between -20.0% and -13.2%. In contrast, departments in the Southwest, which have historically focused on mixed farming, have experienced a much more significant decrease, ranging from -41.2% to -64.0%. This shift reflects a growing trend toward specialization in dairy farming, with fewer farms engaging in mixed operations such as fattening cattle for meat. In beef cattle farming, the decline in the number of farms is most noticeable in the Southwest, Limousin, and the Charolais basin, where herd sizes have also grown. In the Massif Central, however, the number of farms has remained relatively stable, and herd expansion has been minimal. Overall, more beef cattle farms have ceased their operations compared to dairy farms, with 37.5% of beef cattle farms stopping compared to 27.7% of dairy farms. However, the emergence of new beef cattle farms has partially offset this decline. There have been 6,488 conversions from a dairy system to a beef cattle system, as well as 7,641 new beef cattle farms created. This trend is not seen in dairy farming, which has seen fewer new entrants. In cattle farms that have remained operational over the past decade, the reduction in the number of animals has been minimal or nonexistent. For maintained dairy farms, the average size has increased by 10.9 cows. The most significant drop in the number of animals occurs during conversions, especially when a dairy system is shifted to beef cattle farming, with an average decrease of 19.8 cows. The cessation of activities primarily affects smaller farms: dairy farms that stopped had an average of 45.3 cows, compared to 70.8 for maintained farms, while beef cattle farms that ceased had an average of 31.5 cows compared to 59.4 for maintained farms. New cattle farms, particularly in beef cattle farming, tend to be smaller in size, with an average of 27.5 cows compared to 59.4 for maintained farms.