Dairy co-operatives’ milk intakes rose by 7.4% in November last when compared with the year previous, which was the fifth consecutive rise in 2022, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Milk intake had initially been down slightly in the first months of the year before surpassing the corresponding period in 2021 in July.

Creameries and pasteurising plants were estimated to have taken in 500.4m litres over November 2022, the CSO figures show.

Intake

The entire intake for the 11 months from January to November 2022 increased marginally to 8,557.5m litres, a rise of 0.7% on the same months in 2021.

Milk constituents also rose slightly in November when compared with the same month a year previous.

Fat and protein contents increased from 4.90% to 4.98% and from 3.89% to 3.90% respectively.

Butter production increased some 4.3% over the same period to reach 18,600t, up from 17,800t.