Inside: Dairy Market
Milk supply shows third minus in a row
The Dutch milk supply in 2018 is behind last year. This can be concluded now that the supply figures for April are known. However, in the context of the phosphate reduction plan (2017), the contraction is limited.
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Dutch dairy processors collected 1.191.863 tons of milk in April, a decrease of 1,71% compared to the same month in 2017. The record volume of the milk supply in April dates from 2016. The negative difference compared to then has increased to more than 2%. Daily production amounts to 39.728 tons, compared to 39.243 tons in March. This means that production a seasonal increase shows. So far (January to April), milk supply is 1,33% below the 2017 level.
The average fat content remained stable at 4,40% in April. Due to the lower supply, fat production takes a small step back to 52.459 tons. In neighboring countries (Germany, France and Poland), milk supplies are still above last year's level. For example, the German milk supply in the last week of April was 3% above last year's level.
Legacy of phosphate reduction plan
Although April had some heat records, the influence is minor. The shrinking milk supply is more likely to be related to the shrunken dairy herd. In the most recent count (December 2017), there was a decrease of 8,61% to 1.665.000 units. This is a result of the phosphate reduction plan. From this point of view, the shrinking milk supply in the Netherlands can be called quite minimal.
The milk supply varies between last year's level and the 5-year average.