Forecasts for the 2007/08 milk year show that average milk yields have fallen by 52 litres per cow since the 2006/07 milk year. This is the second time the average milk yield per cow per annum has declined since our records began in 1995/96, suggesting the trend is changing. However, silage quality and weather conditions in the last couple of years could have impacted on the average yield per cow per annum. The increase in organic production which generally sees a lower milk yield per cow per annum than conventional farming, may also have had an impact on the average milk yield.

Total production¹ has fallen by 274 million litres over the year and total cow numbers² have declined by 24,000 head.

¹please note that total milk production is based on all milk produced on farm, including the milk which is delivered to dairies, milk used on farm in the production of dairy products, milk consumed in farm households, milk fed to livestock and farm waste, suckled milk is excluded.

²From 1999/00 to 2004/05 the average size of the dairy herd is estimated by taking the size of the herd at June and December from the agricultural census information, and calculating the population trends during the remaining months of the year. The average herd size shown in the table below is therefore consistent with, but not the same as, Defra's published agricultural census data. From 2005/06 data is obtained through the Cattle Tracing System (CTS).

The average yields have to be taken with a degree of caution as they are based only on the total milk production recorded divided by the size of the dairy herd.

Average Milk Yields

* Leap Year **Forecast
Source: DEFRA