Co-ops’ milk intake for the month of April was 12.6% higher this April than it was for the same month last year, according to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures.

April’s milk intake hit 1.07bn litres – up 120m litres on the previous April or 44m litres on April 2023’s output.

This followed a year-on-year uptick in March milk volumes, with the total milk produced since between January to April estimated by the CSO to stand at 2.38bn litres, which was almost 8% higher than last year but still tracking behind 2023’s output.

The higher 2025 milk volume trend witnessed in Ireland is not yet evidenced in any of the four largest EU milk producing countries as Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands have recorded decreases of between 3% and 4.8%.

The average fat content of milk accepted by processors for April 2025 was 4.08%, down from 4.27% the previous April, while protein fared better in rising from 3.27% to 3.47% over the same time frame.