The latest figures from DCANZ (Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand) show that milk collections for November were 2.85m tonnes, a 4.5% decline compared to the same month last year. In the milking season to date, New Zealand milk production is now running 3% behind 2015 levels.

When measured in milk solids, collections were back 5.3% for November to just under 235m kg milk solids.

This is the second consecutive month that milk supply from New Zealand farms has seen a sharp decline. In October, milk production declined 5.5% year-on-year to just over 3m tonnes, which is the lowest level of October milk output in New Zealand since 2012.

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October and November are the months of peak milk supply in New Zealand, accounting for close to 30% of all the country’s annual milk output between them. However, the spring weather has been unusually wet this year in New Zealand and helped exacerbate the decline in milk output this milking season.