European milk supply hit hard by corona

In the European Union, 11.552.520 tonnes of milk were collected in December, the latest data from the European Commission show. It is an increase of about 4,1% from the previous month's 11,09 million tons. However, the European milk supply in December is also far below the level of a year earlier (-9,6%) and is also not close to the 5-year average (-6,9%).

Corona crisis is reflected in low figures
If we look at the entire year, it is clear that the corona crisis has had significant negative consequences for the milk production of the European Union. Since February, milk supply has no longer come close to the 2019 level or the 5-year average. Especially in May, the start of the lockdowns for most countries, the European milk supply is much lower than in previous years (-7,8%). Not surprising when you consider that the sales channels for many European fanciers disappeared after the closure of the catering industry, among other things.

For the entire year of 2020, the European milk supply will amount to approximately 145,77 million tons. It is a negative difference of about 8,5% compared to the 158,22 million tons collected in 2019. It should be noted that calendar year 2019 was a particularly good year for European milk production. It has never been this high before.

Compared to the 5-year average - of 153,95 million tons - the percentage difference is slightly smaller, namely -5,6%. This is partly due to the dry years that have had an impact on milk production and the shortage of good roughage in recent years. Consider the 2016 season. In that year, the milk supply did not exceed 152,23 million tons, although that is of course still a significant difference of 4,4% compared to last year.