The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index has increased slightly after the latest trading event today (Tuesday, August 4).

This marks the second increase in the index following three decreases in a row.

The index has increased by 0.1%, reflecting an average price for product sold during the trading event of €3,275/t.

The index figure now stands at 1,140, slightly up from 1,139 at the last trading event.

In today's event, a total of 40,504t of product was sold, and 170 bidders took part.

132 winning bidders emerged across 16 bidding rounds, which lasted a total of two hours and 36 minutes.

Products

Looking at the individual product sub-indices, the index for cheddar increased by 3.8%, reflecting an average price of €3,227/t.

Lactose saw an increase of 4.1%, for a price of €1,543.

Skim milk powder increased by 1.2%, for a price of €2,827.

Mozzarella grew by 1%, for a price of €3,461, while whole milk powder had a modest increase of 0.2% reflecting an average price of €3,019.

Butter declined by 2.3%, reflecting an average price of €4,530, while butter milk powder decreased by 2.8% to €3,438.

Anhydrous milk fat also declined by 0.8%, for a price of €5,520.

Milk cheques set to shrink 

In other dairy-related news, milk cheques are set to shrink as production falls back.

Milk production inevitably begins to drop off in the second half of the year, but maintaining it for as long as possible is crucial for the profitability of the farm.

As of July 24, average daily milk production had already dropped by 1.58kg/milk since the start of July, according to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

Meanwhile, average daily milk solids had dropped by 0.11kg, all while the average somatic cell count levels rose by 17,000 cells/ml.

This ultimately leads to milk cheques falling back too, which is far from ideal as feed costs rise.