The CSO has reported that domestic milk intake for June was down 3.2%, when compared with June 2025.

Co-ops are also reporting substantial reductions (>10%) in collections in drought-affected regions over the last two weeks.

Should we be concerned? Are we underfeeding cows? And if so, what, if anything, should farmers do about it?

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The answer is no, farmers shouldn’t be concerned that milk yield is falling. The best advice is to do nothing different at the moment.

It's important to remember that 2025 was a brilliant year with the highest ever level of milk production in the history of the Irish State, based on favourable weather and high milk prices.

Current production levels

It was always going to be difficult to replicate, even before considering the drought that has affected many places in recent weeks.

Current production levels are still 14.3 million litres (+1.4%) ahead of the same period in 2024.

Both fat and protein percentages are also higher than during June 2025, showing that animals are being well-fed, under the circumstances.

A reduction in milk production at this time of the year is expected, as milk production during mid-lactation declines by approximately 2% per week, as pregnant dairy cows protect pregnancy and improve body condition at the expense of production.

In some regions, the week-on-week decline in milk production has been as much as 5% in recent weeks, which is substantially beyond normal.

There are a couple of questions to consider here in terms of farm management:

1. Have I good quality silage? Making and having high-quality grass silage available to use in these summer dry conditions is essential.

2. Have animals adequate time and space to consume 18 to 20 kilos dry matter per head, per day and adequate access to drinking water?

3. Is the protein content of the diet adequate? If feeding a lot of silage with heavily drought-affected grass, the crude protein content of concentrates should be 16%.

Feeding 4-5kg of this concentrate with good quality grass silage will be more than adequate to meet animal requirements.

4. Is the body condition score of the herd static or increasing over time?

If you are answering yes to all of the above questions, then the reduction in milk production at this time of the year is a normal consequence of the drought situation and no management changes should be made.