Milk deliveries down 4.4% on three-year average
Milk deliveries in the UK were down 5.9% for the two weeks ending 13 October 2012 compared with the same period last year.
Deliveries for the two-week period averaged 32.3m litres/day which is 2m litres/day lower than the same period in 2011.
Comparing this with the three-year average, current deliveries are around 1.5m litres/day lower, equivalent to 4.4%.
GB deliveries for the same period are down by 6% on last year, at a total of 28m litres/day in the two weeks to 13 October. This is 1.8m litres/day down on the same period of 2011, yet only 4.6%, or 1.4m litres/day lower on the three-year average.
“This is primarily down to the weather,” said Patty Clayton, senior analyst at DairyCo. Deliveries tend to drop this time of year, she said.
“However, going into the trough we have fallen off faster than previous years. Silage is not as good as last year and there’s not as much. Compound this with high feed costs and it’s down 2m litres/day compared to last year. This is one of the lowest troughs in recent years,” said Mrs Clayton.
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