Milk supply to Irish processors has fallen by 5% for the first seven months of the year compared with 2023.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there was a decline of almost 280m litres of milk in January to July 2024 year on year.

Irish dairy cows produced over 5.3bn litres of milk in the period.

Supply in the year to July is back 330.2m litres or 5.8% compared with 2022.

July supply

Co-ops processed an estimated 980.7m litres of milk in July 2024, a decrease of 33.9m litres (3.3%) when compared with July 2023.

When compared with the same month in 2022, supply this July is down 42.1m litres (4.1%).

Fat content for July 2024 was 4.09%, down from 4.14% in July 2023, while the CSO said that protein content went up marginally from 3.47% to 3.50% in the 12 months to July 2024.

Butter production dropped from 31,800t in July 2023 to 29,300t in July 2024, a decrease of 2,500t.

Meanwhile, total milk sold for human consumption was down marginally by 0.9m litres, from 42.3m litres in July 2023 to 41.4m litres in July 2024.