Market report: June milk production up on last year

UK milk production in June totalled 1.18bn litres, 64m litres below May’s total, but 4.2% higher than the same month last year.

GB deliveries fell by 58m litres month-on-month, to 995m litres, but increased by 3.7% compared with June 2009.

The decline in deliveries from May, by 5.2%, was consistent with the end of the spring production peak, said DairyCo’s latest report. However, it was less marked than the 10-year average drop between May and June of 7.9%.

Dairy farmer numbers in England and Wales continued to fall in June, to 11,256 – 4.1% lower than the same time last year. That was 28 fewer farmers than in May, according to DEFRA.

Wales has seen the biggest annual decline, of 5.7%, to 1,985 producers, with England witnessing a fall of 3.8%. Within England, the southern region suffered the largest drop, down by 5.2%, year on year. The north west recorded a drop of 3.5%, with eastern counties down by 5%, and the west by 3.1-3.8%. The south east showed the smallest drop, down 1.8%.