June 18, 2012

UK dairy cow production at 1.25 billion litres in May

In May, 1.25 billion litres of milk have been produced by UK dairy cows, three million litres down at the same period in 2011 but 13.6 million litres more than the five-year average.

Cumulatively, for the first two months of the milk year, UK production was 2.454 billion litres, 10 million litres more than last year and the highest since 2007. According to provisional figures from the Rural Payments Agency, butterfat reached 3.97% for the month, the highest on record, bringing the cumulative butterfat level to 4.01%.

DairyCo's latest milk price league table left Dairy Crest's Waitrose contract at the top of the rolling 12-month list, at GBP0.3105 (US$0.49) per litre. However, the monthly price slumped from March, to just GBP0.2867 (US$0.45) per litre in April, well below Dairy Crest's Sainsbury's pool at GBP0.3012 (US$0.47). With the start of the new milk year, DairyCo has adjusted its standard litre composition, so direct comparisons are not possible.

"Just one milk price change was announced for April," said the DairyCo report. "From April Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group suppliers received a price reduction of GBP0.0065 (US$0.01) per litre. This was as a result of lower feed prices, which has been partially offset by other production cost increases."