Executive Summary

EU-27+UK milk deliveries provided by Eurostat and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board of the United Kingdom were recently updated with values spanning through Feb ’22. Highlights from the updated report include:

• EU-27+UK milk deliveries finished 0.4% above previous year levels throughout Feb ’22, increasing on a YOY basis for the first time in the past six months.
• Feb ’22 YOY increases in milk deliveries were led by Poland, followed by Italy and Austria, while milk deliveries declined most significantly from the previous year throughout the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. Overall, 15 of the 28 countries experienced YOY increases in milk deliveries throughout the month.
• EU-27+UK beef & dairy cow slaughter rates increased 2.4% on a YOY basis throughout Jan ’22, finishing above previous year levels for the first time in the past five months but remaining at the second lowest seasonal level experienced throughout the past ten years.

Additional Report Details

Milk Production

According to Eurostat and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board of the United Kingdom, Feb ’22 EU-27+UK milk deliveries rebounded seasonally to a seven month high level while finishing 0.4% above previous year levels. Milk deliveries remained slightly below the record high seasonal level experienced throughout February of 2020, however.

Figures for Luxembourg are not yet available and are based on the previous month YOY change in deliveries. Luxembourg accounted for less than one percent of total EU-27+UK milk deliveries throughout the past 12 months.

’20-’21 annual EU-27+UK milk deliveries finished 0.5% higher on a YOY basis, reaching a record high level for the fourth consecutive year. ’21-’22 YTD EU-27+UK milk deliveries have increased by an additional 0.1% heading into the final month of the production season.

The Feb ’22 YOY increase in EU-27+UK milk deliveries was the first experienced throughout the past six months. EU-27+UK milk deliveries had finished higher on a YOY basis over 27 of 31 months through Aug ’21, prior to finishing below previous year levels over five consecutive months through Jan ’22.

Feb ’22 YOY increases in milk deliveries on an absolute basis were led by Poland, followed by Italy and Austria, while YOY declines in deliveries on an absolute basis were led by the United Kingdom, followed by the Netherlands and Germany.

YOY increases in milk deliveries on a percentage basis were led by Lithuania (+7.5%), followed by Austria (+4.7%) and Latvia (+4.7%), while declines in milk deliveries on a percentage basis were led by Malta (-7.2%), followed by Bulgaria (-5.6%) and Cyprus (-3.2%).

Milk deliveries within the top ten milk producing member states increased by a weighted average of 0.2% throughout the month, despite declines experienced throughout the top four milk producing member states. The top ten EU-27+UK milk producing member states accounted for over 85% of the total EU-27+UK milk deliveries experienced throughout the month. Milk deliveries outside of the top ten milk producing member states increased by 1.4% on a YOY basis. Overall, 15 of the 28 countries experienced YOY increases in milk deliveries during Feb ’22.

Beef & Dairy Cow Slaughter

Jan ’22 EU-27+UK beef & dairy cow slaughter finished 2.4% above previous year levels when normalizing for slaughter days but remained at the second lowest seasonal level experienced throughout the past ten years. The YOY increase in EU-27+UK beef & dairy cow slaughter rates was the first experienced throughout the past five months. YOY increases in beef & dairy cow slaughter were most significant throughout Spain, followed by the Netherlands and Ireland.

’20-’21 annual EU-27+UK bovine slaughter declined on a YOY basis for the second consecutive year, finishing down 3.4% and reaching a seven year low level. The USDA is projecting a 1.3% YOY decline in the EU-27+UK dairy cow herd throughout the 2022 calendar, following the general trend towards an overall smaller herd size and more productive animals.