Domestic milk intake last month was up by 1% on the same month in 2021, however overall intake from January to July of this year was 0.4% lower than the same period in the previous year.
According to statistics released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) this week, 1.027 billion litres of milk were taken in during the month of July this year, which represents a 1% increase on the figure for the same month in 2021.
Despite this, between January and July this year, total milk intake was 0.4% lower than in the same period in 2021, falling from 5.69 billion litres to 5.66 billion.
The CSO’s data also shows that this is largely due to lower intake levels throughout March, April, May and June of 2022, months where supply is typically at its peak.
In a breakdown of the milk’s constituents, both the average fat and protein content per litre was higher in July this year than it was in the same month in 2021. Fat jumped from an average of 3.99% per litre to 4.03%, while protein increased from 3.43% to 3.47%.
Milk commodity production
Data on the amount of dairy products produced in each month over the past year was also made available by the CSO, which noted that while butter production decreased, skim milk powder production rose.
17,100t of skimmed milk powder were produced in July 2021, however this figure rose to 22,300t in July this year, an increase of 30.8%. In comparison, total butter production was 29,100t in the same month of 2022, 1,700t lower than it was in July 2021.
Although figures for cheese production in July of this year are not yet available, the CSO noted that the commodity has been on an upward trend since 2019, when 28,600t were produced in the month of July.
In the same month in 2020, this figure rose to 28,700 and increased again over the next year, to total 29,700t in July 2021.