milk intake june

Latest figures from the Cental Statisitics Office (CSO) show that milk production is running some 7.4% ahead of 2013 over the period January to June.

The CSO data shows that domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers was estimated at 727.4 million litres for June 2014. This was 3.8% above the corresponding 2013 figure.

Comparing the June 2014 milk produce figures with those for June 2013 also shows that total milk sold for human consumption decreased by 0.5% to 38.9 million litres and butter production was up 9.7% to 19,300 tonnes.

In the UK despite originally displaying a sharp decline from its peak, milk production has been holding strong with daily deliveries in the two weeks to July 12 7.4% higher than the same period in 2013.

According to DairyCo however, forage quality from first cut silage suggests that such strong year-on-year increases in deliveries may not continue through the remainder of the milk year.

It says production over the winter months is heavily influenced by the quality of forage and analysis of first cut silage indicates that, while plentiful, it is of relatively poor quality. DairyCo cite results from Trouw Nutrition GB which suggest that while the first cut is good from a fermentation perspective, the average energy density is much lower than in 2013 and likely to result in less milk per unit of forage feed.