Inside Milk
Dutch milk supply almost in quota era
You can almost say that Dutch milk production is back to square one. The supply for last June is the lowest in four years and falls below the level of June 2015. At that time, the European milk quota was abolished just two months ago.
Read this article?
Become a subscriber and get instant access
Choose the subscription that suits you
Dutch milk production for June amounts to 1.144.012 tons, according to figures published by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). That is 2,7% less than in June 2018. But also more than 1.500 tonnes lower than the milk production of June 2015, when the milk quota had been abolished for just three months. Dutch milk production is therefore back to the level of four years ago.
The main driver behind the decline in milk production is of course the phosphate rights system that was introduced in 2018. Many in the sector also call this system 'the new milk quota'. The fact that production control also appears to work out this way in practice underlines the current trend in milk supply.
In European terms, the Netherlands is not the only country that produces less milk. The superpowers Germany and France also milk less. In contrast, other Member States such as the United Kingdom, Poland and Ireland produce much more milk. Overall, the European Commission therefore takes this into account with increasing milk production in the EU.
Although Dutch milk production in June is a lot lower than the same month in 2018, fat production is surprisingly higher than a year earlier. 48.679 tons of fat were collected in June 2019, which is 0,6% more than the same month last year. Unfortunately, the prices of the fat-related messages are like butter and cream under pressure during this period.