Milk output under quota – again
7 July 2000
Milk output under quota – again
By Robert Harris
MILK output fell below quota profile for the third month in succession, according to provisional Intervention Board figures released on Friday (07 July).
Producers delivered just 1.166 billion butterfat-adjusted litres in June, about 64m litres, or 5.2%, below profile.
This means the cumulative shortfall for the first quarter of the milk year stands at 154m litres, the equivalent of about four days supply.
The industry was expecting a deficit, and confirmation of the slowest start since Intervention Board records began in 1994 will add to earlier suspicions that the UK could fall below quota this year.
However, there are others who counter that in years where milk output has started slowly, the UK has often ended up over profile.
The quota market is likely to remain quiet as a result, say brokers, with the figures doing little to end the stand-off between buyers and sellers.