Dutch dairy farmers continue to confound all market expectations. Figures released on Thursday show that Dutch milk collections for October totalled 1.13bn litres, which is 1.4% ahead of the same month last year.

This brings cumulative milk production in the Netherlands for the first 10 months of 2017 above 11.5bn litres, which is just 0.5% lower than the same period last year.

Many corners had predicted a big decline in Dutch milk production this year following the introduction of new quotas to try and curb phosphates.

However, these forecasts have proved unfounded and Dutch dairy farmers continue to produce high volumes of milk.

This increase in October milk production by Dutch farmers is remarkable, especially given that milk production this time last year was very robust.

Dutch milk production in the last three months of 2016 was strong as farmers reacted quickly to the sharp turnaround in milk prices.