Wet summer hits milk production

WET WEATHER took its toll on milk production in August, knocking it 25m litres below the Charles Holt/FARMERS WEEKLY profile.

Industry experts had expected milk yields to rise last month, but with some cattle coming indoors earlier than usual, production fell to 1.14bn litres – almost 40m litres below August last year.

Butterfat rose to 3.88% – one point higher than August last year, with cumulative butterfat three points higher at 3.87%.

Cumulatively, the UK has produced 6.1bn litres of milk this year – 180m litres below profile.

Mr Holt reckoned production would pick up from Sept onwards, although he still expected a small deficit next month.

Quota prices had eased to about 17.5p/litre for 4% butterfat sales and 8-9p/litre for leasing, said Townsend‘s Mark Dyson.

“It‘s extremely quiet and I think we may well see some falls this month.” Prices were likely to recover after October as interest in the market picked up again, he added.