The scars of the severe drought which hit New Zealand in November and December have continued to affect milk production in the early months of 2018.

Figures released on Monday by the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) show that milk production in New Zealand for February was just over 1.8bn litres.

This represents a more than 2% decline compared with the same month last year. In January, New Zealand milk production was down 5%, with many farmers still milking once a day.

Production down 1%

New Zealand milk production for the 2017-2018 milking season now stands at 16.6bn litres, which is down more than 1% compared with the same period last year.

While rainfall has returned to normal levels since the turn of the new year, grass growth, particularly on the North Island where there is little irrigation, has been below normal as grass crops try to recover from the pressure of the drought.

Given the weaker milk production from New Zealand in recent months, it will be interesting to watch the outcome of this week’s GDT auction. Farmers will be hoping the latest milk production figures from New Zealand are enough to send dairy market prices higher this week.

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