DairyCo"e;s daily production figures show that by the end of August daily milk production was running at around 1.9 million litres below the three year average – that"e;s a drop of 5%.
This is backed up by figures from the Rural Payment Agency showing August milk production at 4.3% below the three year average.
The UK reported a total milk delivery figure for the month of 1.056 billion litres, the lowest August figure since the deregulation of the milk market in 1994/5. This was 5.3% down on July"e;s figures and although a seasonal fall in production between July and August is expected, it is usually smaller at between 3 and 4%.
The reason for this dramatic fall in production is due to the poor weather. Met Office figures show rainfall 59% up on the three year average for the month of August and only 105.5 hours of sun were recorded – the lowest August figures since records began in 1929.
Significantly, milk production normally starts to flatten off at this time of year after a summer drop, but it has not done so yet. With the continuing poor weather this may lead to a very low milk production trough in a couple of months if the weather does not improve.
Cumulatively, production in the first five months of the milk year stands at 5,664 million litres. This is 3.8% below the three year average and 2.0% below the 2007/8 milk year when milk production for the year totalled 13.2 billion litres – almost 1 billion litres below the UK"e;s quota limit.
