Australia milk production to lowest point in 15 years

Milk production in February, which is traditionally the month with the lowest production of the year, amounts to 552,6 million liters. This is a decrease of 12,6% compared to the same month in 2018. In January, milk supply already fell by 10,9% to 705,9 million liters, putting production in Australia at the lowest point in the last 15 years . Production in February of this year was no less than 12,3% lower than the 5-year average.

Drought has an impact
De extreme drought last summer had a major impact on Australian dairy farms. The country's Ministry of Agriculture and Water expects the dairy herd to continue to decline until the 2021/2022 season. They assume that improvements in the roughage harvest (grass) will not quickly lead to more cows and a higher milk supply. In addition, the ministry expects milk production to remain below 5 billion liters per year for the next 9 years. Last season 2017/2018 this was almost 9,3 billion liters.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Water also reports that lower production is putting pressure on the export position of Australian dairy, especially because the country does not make any concessions to domestic consumption (such as drinking milk). This means that less milk is available to be processed in the factory and exported as dairy products.