Inside Milk
Milk supply picks up slightly in July
Dutch milk production managed to catch up to 2017 slightly in July, which means that the backlog in milk supply is decreasing. Nothing can be said about the levels yet. However, the supply figures indicate that a possible dip will only emerge from figures for August.
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Dutch dairy farmers supplied 1.179.410 tons of milk to processors in July. It is a decrease of 1,17%, compared to the same month 1 year earlier. However, compared to the month of June it is actually a minimal improvement.
The year 2018 is more average
If we look at the 5-year average, we see that it is usually the months of August and September that see a sharp drop in supply. That decline was minimal in 2017, but 2018 appears to be a more average year (based on reports from the field). It is something that is partly inspired by the relatively high slaughter numbers in July, in combination with warm weather and local challenges in the feed.
Since the backlog in milk supply is decreasing slightly, the subtotal also shows a small improvement. The total supply (until July) amounts to 8,34 million tons of milk. That is a minus of 1,36% compared to 2017. However, it does not change the fact that 2018 is still one of the three top years.
The milk supply is slightly below 2017, but slightly above the 5-year average.