472 million litres of domestic milk was processed by creameries and pasteurisers during last November, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The domestic milk statistics show that this represents an increase of 4.9% over November 2020.
The data also shows the protein and fat content of the milk collected.
Protein content increased from 3.85 % in November 2020 to 3.89% in November 2021.
Fat content increased from 4.86% to 4.90% for the same period.
Over the course of October 2021, domestic milk intake was estimated at 662.5 million.
Protein content stood at 3.96% that month and fat content was at 4.76%.
Milk intake
The CSO said that during the period of January to November 2021, domestic intake was estimated at 8509.2 million litres.
That is an increase of 5.9% when compared to the corresponding period for 2020.
Total milk sold for human consumption in November 2021 was 41 million litres, compared to 39.5 million litres for the same month in 2020.
November’s figure is down from the 41.9 million litres recorded in October 2021.
Whole milk sales in November were 25.5 million litres, which is a decrease on the previous month’s total of 26.1 million litres.
Skimmed and semi-skimmed saw an decrease in November, from 15.8 million litres in October to 15.4 million litres.
Butter production stood at 18,700t for November; the previous month 21,600t of butter was sold.
However, the figure is up from 17,600t of butter sold in November 2020.
The data shows that 21,400t of cheese was sold in November 2021, which is a significant fall from the previous month when 27,800t was sold.
It should be noted that cheese production had also fallen in October from the 33,900t sold in September.
The statistics also show that between milk intake for Irish creameries and pasteurisers between January and October 2021 was up almost 6% compared to the same period in 2020.