Milk production up in August

Milk production during August was the highest for five years, according to provisional Rural Payments Agency figures.

UK wholesale milk deliveries totalled 1118.7m litres last month, the highest August figure since the 2005/06 season. Cumulative production now stands at 5814.5m litres, around 3% ahead of last year.

The strong August production came despite a period of relatively poor grass growth caused by dry weather during the early summer.

“Rain earlier last month helped grass recover, but many farmers have also been feeding more supplementary feed, which I think has had a positive impact on milk production,” DairyCo’s David Swales said.

If UK milk production continued at 3% ahead of last year, it could finish the 2010/11 quota year at around 13bn litres, a level last seen in 2007/08.