Milk deliveries to processors and co-ops have declined by 4.7% over the first eight months of the year, estimates recently released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have shown.
For the January to August period in 2024, the CSO estimates a domestic milk intake of 6.21 billion litres – a decline of 306.9 million litres or 4.7% when compared with the same period in 2023, and down by 367.2 million litres (5.6%) when compared with January to August 2022.
August only milk deliveries have also declined. Commenting on this, Sam Scriven, Senior Statistician in the Agriculture Section of the CSO, said the figures “show that the domestic milk intake in August 2024 by milk processors and co-ops fell by 20.3 million litres, or 2.2%, compared with the same month in 2023”. When compared to the same month in 2022, this August’s deliveries are down 30.1 million litres or 3.3%.
Despite the declines over the first eight months of the year and in August, he noted that when compared with August 2023, “total milk for human consumption rose to 43.4 million litres, while production of butter and of skimmed milk powder both fell”. Butter production fell from 30,100 tonnes in August 2023 to 28,600 tonnes in August 2024, a drop of 1,500 tonnes, whereas skimmed milk powder dropped by 4,500 tonnes, from 19,500 tonnes in August 2023 to 15,000 tonnes in August 2024.
The CSO also points to the fat and protein contents of milk; fat content for August 2024 was 4.28% – down from 4.31% in August 2023, while protein content went up marginally from 3.62% to 3.63% in the 12 months to August 2024.
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