Inside Milk
Half-yearly milk supply in Germany in the plus
In the first half of 2020, despite a decline in livestock numbers, German dairy farmers managed to marginally increase milk production. This increase mainly comes from the north of the country.
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The German domestic milk supply amounted to 6 million kilos of milk in the first 16.301 months. This is an increase of 0,4% compared to the same period last year. This increase took place despite a decrease in the livestock population, which was 2,5% lower than last year.
The greatest growth was achieved in Northern Germany. Dairy farmers in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern managed to produce around 729,4% more milk than last year, with a total production of 2,2 thousand kilos. In North Rhine-Westphalia, production increased by 1,6% to 1.740 million kilos and in Schleswig-Holstein milk production increased by 1,5% to 1.540 kilos.
Decrease
Milk supply has not increased everywhere in Germany. The largest percentage decrease took place in Thuringia, where production fell by as much as 2,7%. Milk production was also lower in Brandenburg and Saxony than last year. Most milk is still produced in Bayern, although production there decreased by 0,7% to 3.991 million kilos.
| Region | 2019 | 2020 |
| Baden-Württemberg | 1.179,7 | 1.186,5 |
| Bayern | 3.997,9 | 3.991,9 |
| Brandenburg | 648,1 | 641,2 |
| Hesse, Rheinland-P, Saarland | 957 | 969 |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 729,5 | 749,4 |
| Lower Saxony | 3.604,6 | 3.673,1 |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | 1.704 | 1.740,2 |
| Saxony/Sachsen-Anhalt | 1.359,2 | 1.362,6 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 1.508,7 | 1.540,1 |
| Thuringia | 457,1 | 447,1 |
| Germany Total | 16.145,7 | 16.301,2 |
Organic share
According to the released data, 3,9% of the milk supply was organic milk, which amounts to approximately 635,7 thousand kilos of milk. This is a percentage increase of 0,1% compared to last year's share.
Faded growth
As the year has progressed, the growth in the country's milk supply has subsided somewhat. Milk supply in the first quarter of 2020 was well above last year's level. In the following months, the corona crisis took hold and milk supply dropped again, but did not fall below last year's level.