The cold weather at the start of this year really seems to have had a significant impact on milk production right across continental Europe.

New figures released by Eurostat show German milk production for the month of January stood at just over 2.6bn litres, which is down almost 2% on the same month last year.

Germany is the largest milk-producing country in Europe, with German dairy farmers supplying almost 31.5bn litres of milk to their local co-ops last year.

Major bearing on sentiment

Any signs of falling or rising milk supply in countries like Germany has a major bearing on European dairy market sentiment.

Last week, Eurostat reported a more than 3% decline in French milk production for the month of January to just over 2bn litres.

France is the second-largest milk-producing country in Europe.

Between both countries, almost 120m fewer litres of milk were produced in Germany and France in January 2021 compared with a year previous.