Milk production in GB has again slipped, with total figures for the month of June 2022 totalling 1047m litres – down 2% in comparison to June 2021.

Figures from AHDB show that production fell from May deliveries by 8%, in line with the seasonally expected drop in production. June daily deliveries started the month at 35.62m litres/day and ended at 34.12m litres/day.

It is a trend that is being mirrored the world over, with global milk production for the month of May also down on the year. Total milk deliveries across the key producing countries were down 1.8% in May 2022, compared to the same month 12 months previous.

The main production regions include the EU-27, UK, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, which combined, account for 65% of global cow's milk production and around 80% of global exports of dairy products.

Figures from AHDB show that average daily deliveries were at 813.0m litres per day for May – 14.9m litres less per day than in May 2021.

High production costs are the main limiting factor to lower milk production, although weather has also played a role in Oceania.

Both Australia and New Zealand recorded a drop of around 2.0m litres per day in May, down 8.8% and 6.5% respectively.

The US also recorded a year on year drop of 2.0m litres/day for May, equating to 0.7% less milk.

The UK’s average daily deliveries were down 1.4%, amounting to a deficit of 0.6m litres/day from last year.

In the EU-27, daily deliveries were down 2.0% on year earlier volumes. All of the larger producing nations saw declines in milk production in May – France (-4.8%), Germany (-1.8%), Netherlands (-0.8%) and Ireland (-2.4%).

Argentina continues to be the only region to see growth in milk production. However, year on year growth was marginal compared to recent months, up 0.4% at 29.2m litres/day.