Inside Milk
New Zealand reaches peak milk supply
Dairy farmers in New Zealand have reached their seasonal peak in milk supply, the latest figures from government agency DCANZ show. There is no new record, because last year slightly more was produced in this month.
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For October, New Zealand dairy farmers produced 3,213 million tonnes of milk, which is approximately 20% more than last month. It is not surprising that milk production is higher, because the peak in milk supply is usually reached in October. By the way, no record production has been achieved, because last year 3,299 million tons were produced in October. That is approximately 2,6% more than this year.
Downward movement coming?
On the other hand, milk production this year is slightly higher than the 5-year average for the month of October: 3,175 million tons. Production this year is therefore approximately 1,1% higher than the average. In any case, it is clear that New Zealand milk production is stable. For example, production in 2017 amounted to 3,118 million tons and in 2016 to 3,036 million tons.
If we look at the last months of the year and the seasonal trend in that period, it is expected that the milk supply in New Zealand will decrease again from next month. Last year, milk production fell to 2,995 million tonnes in November, before falling further to 2,735 million tonnes in December.