Inside Milk
Remarkable decline in milk supply Kiwis
Milk production in New Zealand really picks up seasonally in August and has seen a significant drop in supply in this month compared to August 2020.
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New Zealand livestock farmers supplied 1.397.000 tonnes of milk in August. that was 71.000 tons, or 4.8%, less than in August last year. In June and July the supply of milk was still somewhat higher, but this cannot prevent the total milk supply for the '21/'22 season from being a few percent behind last year. The total milk supply for the '21/'22 season so far is 1.936.000 tons. That is about 2,42% lower than in the first three months of the '20/'21 season.
Back to levels a few years ago
Milk production is therefore back to the levels of the '19/'20 and '18/'19 seasons. At that time, milk supplies were 1.394.000 and 1.383.000 tons respectively. The coming months will reveal whether there is a structural shrinking milk supply.
After Fonterra itself, Americans are also adjusting their perspective
In a new update on the New Zealand dairy sector, the US Department of Agriculture now assumes a slight decline in milk production for the current season. According to the ministry, milk volumes are down 0,5%, which is in line with the most recent production figures and the slightly smaller number of cows in the country.
Last summer, New Zealand's largest dairy processor Fonterra came up with a similar vision. According to the cooperative group, the years of strong growth are in the past and the milk pool will remain at the current level or possibly shrink slightly. The main cause is the increasingly restrictive legislation for dairy farms. This mainly limits the amount of land available for dairy farming.