Milk production in the US has moved up a gear in recent months and is now on track to hit an all-time record high.

New figures published by the USDA show that October milk production in the US increased by 2.3% year on year to reach 8.1bn litres, which is an extra 190m litres.

The strong growth in October milk production follows an equally strong increase in September milk supplies in the US, which was up more than 2% year on year to 7.9bn litres.

This brings US milk production for the first 10 months of the year to a cumulative 81.5bn litres, which is up 2%, or an extra 1.5bn litres, on the same period last year.

At this rate of growth, US milk production is on track to hit close to 98bn litres for the full year 2020, which would be the highest level of milk supply in US history.

Closer to home

Closer to home, Polish milk production in October was up 2% to 965m litres, while Irish milk collections for the same month increased 8% to just over 650m litres. This brings Irish milk production for the first 10 months of 2020 to 7.6bn litres, which is almost 4% ahead of last year.

European dairy prices edged higher this week. Cheese and butter prices were stable, while prices for both whole and skimmed milk powder (WMP and SMP) increased slightly to €2,760/t and €2,170/t respectively.

Separately, Dutch co-op Friesland Campina raised its guaranteed milk price for December to 36.2c/litre.