Milk production in UK to rise by 10% by 2020

A LEADING firm of consultants operating in the dairy sector yesterday suggested there could be a 10 per cent increase in the milk produced in this country by the year 2020.

The prognosis by Kite Consulting in Staffordshire, comes despite current unrest at poor ex-farm prices and with a constant stream of producers leaving the industry.

Kite do not see any reversal in the continued reduction in numbers of producers. In fact they forecast that by the beginning of 2020, there will be less than 10,000 herds in the country compared with the 15,355 at the end of 2010.

The consultants also reckon there will be no overall rise in the number of dairy cows from the current the 1.85 million figure remaining static. This leaves all of the predicted increase in yield coming from lactations averaging 8,100 litres by 2020, some 13 per cent above present day levels.

Kite has no concerns that the increase in production might further tilt the market towards buyers pointing to the world market situation where demand for milk products is rising steadily.

They feel this is already starting to happen although it will not come without bringing price volatility and said that milk producers will have to be resilient in coping with changes in values.