British and Poles are milking solidly

Dairy farmers in the United Kingdom are still benefiting from the favorable weather conditions of recent weeks, which have allowed dairy cattle to go out to pasture earlier. This benefits milk production. The cows were also already in good milk before that, as the British added more concentrates during the winter. Due to the dry summer in 2018, there was a shortage of roughage.

Milk production in the United Kingdom for April amounts to just over 1,38 million tonnes, which is 4,3% more than the same month in 2018. Milk production is therefore also well above the 5-year average. In this way, British dairy farming breaks records in milk production every month.

Record again
Milk production in Poland also records a record every month, although Polish dairy farming has been doing so for several years in a row. In March 2019, the milk supply amounted to approximately 1,06 million tons, which is an increase of 4,4% compared to March 2018. This means that dairy farmers already milked 8,2% more than the 5-year Polish average for March.

Polish milk production in April (during the transition to the grazing season) does not follow the traditional straight line, but shows a small correction downwards. However, a production of more than 1,04 million tons is still a plus of 2,8% compared to April 2018. 

Growth in milk supply
Now that the European member states have submitted the milk supply figures for March, the balance for this month can be drawn up. The figures show that the milk supply of the 28 Member States, including the United Kingdom, amounts to 13,9 million tonnes. This is 1,4% more than in March 2018. This means that for the first time the milk supply is well above the level of the previous year.

For the first quarter of 2019, European milk production amounted to 38,93 million tons. This is only a fraction more than in the first 3 months of 2018, when the milk supply amounted to 38,83 million tons.