The Dutch milk supply shows a sharp decline again in October. The decline takes...
Dutch dairy processors collected 1.108.718 tons of milk in October. Compared to the same period in 2017, this is a decrease of 5,45%. The daily production amounts to 35.765 tons, compared to 36.300 tons september. In that month, the difference with the same month in 2017 was already significant, but it still remained below 5%.
Fat production for the month of October amounted to 48.946 tons, which means it fell less rapidly (-4,91%) than the milk supply. This is partly due to the fact that the fat content is 0,02 percentage points higher to 4,41% than the same month in 2017.
Fewer dairy cows
Milk production for the first 10 months of this year amounts to 11,6 million tons. Compared to the same period in 2017, this is a decrease of 2,21%, and the difference will become larger, especially in the second half of this year.
The decline has to do with the shrinking number dairy cows. In the third quarter, the Netherlands had approximately 1,55 million dairy cows, a decrease of 67.000 animals compared to the size of the livestock at the end of 2017. Statistics Netherlands bases the count on the current numbers according to the Identification and Registration System (I&R). ).