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Average Milk Yield
Published 9 May 11
Average Milk Yields
- Provisional figures for 2010/11 show that the average milk yield has increased by 331 litres per cow from 2009/10.
- The average yield per cow stood at 7,406 in 2010/11, according to the data.
- There was a 0.7% fall in the national herd size over the period, to 1.85m in 2010/11.
The latest provisional figures from Defra show a 4.7% (331 litres per cow) increase in the average yield per cow from 2009/10, to 7,406 litres per cow in 2010/11.
Total herd size fell by 13,000, to 1.85m over the period. However the increase in milk yield far offset the fall in the number of dairy cattle, which led to an overall 519m litre increase in the total level of milk produced in the UK, to 13.7 billion litres.
¹please note that total milk production (in the table below and used to calculate average yield) is based on all milk produced on farm, including the milk which is delivered to dairies, milk used on farm in the production of dairy products, milk consumed in farm households, milk fed to livestock and farm waste, suckled milk is excluded.
²From 1999/00 to 2004/05 the average size of the dairy herd is estimated by taking the size of the herd at June and December from the agricultural census information, and calculating the population trends during the remaining months of the year. The average herd size shown in the table below is therefore consistent with, but not the same as, Defra's published agricultural census data. From 2005/06 data is obtained through the Cattle Tracing System (CTS).
The average yields have to be taken with a degree of caution as they are based only on the total milk production recorded divided by the size of the dairy herd.
Average Milk Yields by Milk Year
|
|
Average Size of Dairy Herd (thousand head) |
Average Yield (litres per cow per annum) |
Total Milk Production From Dairy Herd (million litres) |
|
2001/2 |
2,229 |
6,449 |
14,373 |
|
2002/3 |
2,224 |
6,450 |
14,343 |
|
2003/4* |
2,185 |
6,631 |
14,492 |
|
2004/5 |
2,060 |
6,886 |
14,183 |
|
2005/6 |
2,003 |
7,001 |
14,020 |
|
2006/7 |
1,989 |
6,963 |
13,852 |
|
2007/8* |
1,961 |
6,924 |
13,579 |
|
2008/9 |
1,902 |
6,945 |
13,209 |
|
2009/10 |
1,861 |
7,075 |
13,164 |
|
2010/11** |
1,847 |
7,406 |
13,683 |
* Leap Year **Provisional
Source: DEFRA
Average Milk Yields by Calendar Year
Annual data shows that the average yield per cow increased between 2009 and 2010. Figures for 2010 show that the average milk yield per calendar year has increased by 248 litres per cow per annum (3.5%) to 7,315 litres per cow per annum. The average yield in 2010 was 22.4% (1,336 litres per cow per annum) higher than ten years previously when the average stood at 5,979 litres per cow per annum.
For more information on average milk yields click here.
|
|
Average Yield (litres per cow per annum) |
|
2000* |
5,979 |
|
2001 |
6,346 |
|
2002 |
6,493 |
|
2003 |
6,621 |
|
2004* |
6,763 |
|
2005 |
6,986 |
|
2006 |
6,977 |
|
2007 |
6,913 |
|
2008 |
6,943 |
|
2009 |
7,068 |
|
2010** |
7,315 |
* Adjusted for leap year **Provisional
Source: DEFRA