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GB milk production heads towards annual peak
Thursday, 13 May 2021
By Charlie Reeve
Despite challenging weather conditions during April, GB milk production is now tracking forecasted levels. For the week ending 1 May, volumes were 0.2% above forecasted volumes and 1.6% above the same week last year.
Milk production has been rising in line with the typical seasonal lift and is now likely approaching the annual peak. In 2020, GB milk production peaked at 37.63ml on 7 May. We surpassed this volume by the end of April, although this is not surprising as farmers were actively cutting back on production due to the first lockdown.
Whilst production has been increasing in recent months in line with seasonal trends, the seven-day rolling average is now only 0.2% above the forecast. To put this into perspective, at the start of April, the seven-day rolling average was 1.7% above the forecast.
The major reason behind the reduction in yields was the adverse weather conditions throughout the month. Last month was one of the driest Aprils on record, and also saw the lowest air temperature since 1922, according to the Met Office. This impacted notably on grass growth rates which were well below normal levels throughout April. GB grass growth rates averaged 42.7kg DM/ha in the week ending 6 May, 34% below the same point last year.
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