17 April 2010

2 minute read

UK wholesale milk deliveries

In February 2010, UK wholesale milk deliveries were, on average, 0.7 million litres per day lower than in February 2009 at an average of 34.3 million litres per day. The cumulative volume of UK wholesale milk deliveries in the period April 2009 to February 2010 was 11,692.7 million litres, which was slightly less than deliveries during the same period last year. The chart below illustrates the average daily UK wholesale deliveries of milk.

Composition of milk in the UK

In 2008/09 the average butterfat content for the milk year was 4.06 per cent, as in 2007/08. The average protein content was 3.28 per cent in 2008/09, compared with 3.31 per cent in the previous year. The charts below illustrate the recent trends.

UK farm-gate milk prices

In January 2010 the average UK farm-gate price was 24.67 pence per litre, a decrease of 0.9 pence per litre on January 2009. As bonus payments are often not paid until the end of the financial year, prices including bonus payments in 2008/09 are not directly comparable with those in previous years.

The chart below illustrates the monthly UK farm-gate milk prices, excluding any bonus payments.

Milk availability, use by dairies and products produced

Using the Rural Payments Agency’s wholesale delivery figures and information on imports and exports of raw milk it is possible to calculate the volume of raw milk which is available for processing by dairies within the United Kingdom. In 2009, 0.7 per cent of the raw milk used by UK dairies was imported and 3.5 per cent of UK produced raw milk was exported to other countries (mainly between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic).

More figures on the availability of raw milk can be found here.

Monthly figures on production by UK dairies of liquid milk and milk products can be found here.

UK manufacture of cheese

Table 5 shows wholesale cheese production in the UK. Production of cheddar has increased substantially over the last nine years. However production of cheddar eased of in 2009, as did total cheese production.

Further Reading

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You can view the full report by clicking here.