Inside Milk
British dairy sector on track for record production
Dairy farms in the United Kingdom (UK) brought milk supply to an all-time high in March this year. In February, milk production was still around the same level as in the past 3 years.
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More than 1,38 million tons of milk was delivered in March, which is a record for this month. This is 6% more than in March 2020 and 4% more than in March 2019. This is evident from the figures published by the AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board).
Milk production is expected to increase even further in April. During this period, the daily milk supply is on average 1,2% higher than expected. The 7-day average is 36,4 million liters per day. The forecast was that milk supply could increase further to 37,8 million liters per day on May 9. However, this could be 500.000 liters higher, according to AHDB.
According to analyst Chris Gooderham, the higher volume of milk supply is a problem for processors. For example, several dairies cannot scale up fast enough to process the milk volume. However, a cold front passed over the country in April, which may result in slightly lower volumes. This may temporarily give the dairies some extra air.
* Until December 2020, the milk supply has been reported by the European Commission. As of December 2020, AHDB is the source.