Domestic milk intake by milk processors and co-ops was down 37.1 million litres in April 2026 compared to April 2025.

Milk intake was estimated at 1.037 billion litres in April 2026, a decrease of 37.1 million litres (-3.5%) when compared with the same month last year, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

However, the figure for April 2026 is up 85.4 million litres (+9%) when compared with the same month in 2024.

CSO figures

Stephanie Kelleher, statistician in the agriculture section of the CSO, said that fat content for April 2026 was 4.24%, up from 4.08% in April 2025.

Protein content dropped marginally from 3.47% to 3.46% in the 12 months to April 2026.

Butter production in April 2026 was 32,700 tonnes, up from 31,800 tonnes in April 2025.

Skimmed milk powder production rose from 20,500 tonnes in April 2025 to 21,100 tonnes in April 2026.

For the period January to April 2026, domestic milk intake was estimated at 2.38 billion litres, down six million litres (-0.3%) when compared with the same period in 2025 but up 171.1 million litres (+7.7%) when compared with 2024.

Ornua PPI

In other dairy news, Ornua this week confirmed an increase in its May Purchase Price Index (PPI) at 129.8, up from the previous month at 127.0.

The PPI is a monthly indicator of market returns on dairy products purchased by Ornua - including butter, cheese, whole milk powder and protein products - relative to comparable returns generated in a base year.

Ornua’s estimate of member co-ops processing costs was 9.5c/L in month - the same figure of 9.5 cpl in the previous month.