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GB milk deliveries: Improved grass growth supported milk production in June
Tuesday, 9 July 2024
GB milk deliveries totalled 1,043 million litres in June, a slight decrease of 0.2% compared to last year’s figure. Daily deliveries averaged 34.8 million litres. For the first quarter of this year’s milk season (April-June), production totals 3,248 million litres, back 1.1% compared to the same period in 2023. 
Following weaker production throughout the flush, we saw June deliveries move much closer to year ago levels as the month progressed. It is, however, important to consider that we are comparing against a period of extreme heat and drought in June of 2023, and production still appears to be trending lower than historic averages.
Some of this boost in production can be attributed to improved grass availability, with better cow nutrition contributing to increased yield per cow. Data collected by AHDB Forage for Knowledge showed grass growth well below the long term average up until mid-May, as copious amounts of rainfall hampered growth rates. However, from Mid-May, we have seen grass growth improve significantly, to sit above both year ago and historic average levels for the whole month of June.
Looking forward, our recently revised AHDB production forecast, predicts a year on year uplift in deliveries for July and August, following recent positive price announcements and good grass growth, before a return to declines over the autumn and winter months.
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