Dairy farmers in Australia produced slightly less milk in December than the year before, but the total production last calendar year is higher than in 2019. Especially in South Australia and Tasmania, the milk supply was higher last year, while a decrease is visible in Queensland. .
in December, Australian dairy farmers produced 846,3 million tonnes of milk. That is 0,2% lower than was produced in the same month in 2019, when 865 million tons of milk were collected by suppliers. The fat content in the milk in December is 4,09% and the protein content is 3,34%. Both levels are therefore considerably lower than a month before. Compared to 2019, the fat percentage is approximately the same, but the protein content is lower. In 2019, that percentage was 3,40%.
Production was lower last December than in the previous year, especially in Victoria and Queensland. In Victoria, milk production fell by 3,1% to 542,9 million tonnes and in Queensland a decline of 2,8% to 26,4 million tonnes was visible. If we look at the 2020/2021 season (which runs from July 2020 to June 2021) compared to the 2019/2020 season, there is also a significant gap in the Queensland region of 3,8%. The milk supply in South Australia is actually 3% ahead of the 2019/2020 season.
Milk production increased in 2020
For calendar year 2020, Australian milk production has reached 8,820 million tonnes. That is an increase of 2,8% compared to a year earlier, although production in 2019 was considerably below previous years. Dairy farmers were hit by extreme drought that year, which resulted in significantly lower milk yields.
In 2019, 8,579 million tons of milk were ultimately produced, a decrease of 6,5% compared to calendar year 2018. In February 2019, the lowest monthly milk supply of the past 5 years was even recorded. The highest monthly supply dates from 2017, when 1,05 million tons of milk were produced in October.