UK milk production continues to shrug off the Brexit-related uncertainty in British farming and is powering ahead in 2019.

New figures show UK milk production for the month of April stood at just over 1.3bn litres, which is more than 4% ahead of the same month last year.

Difficult weather

April 2018 was a very difficult month in terms of weather, with heavy snowfall in Ireland and the UK, which undoubtedly hurt production last year.

In contrast, the early months of 2019 have brought excellent weather, allowing farmers to make a strong start to the year.

Yet, the overall trend for UK milk production so far in 2019 has been one of growth.

Ahead of 2018

For the first four months of 2019, UK milk production stands at a cumulative 5.1bn litres, which is 3.5%, or 170m litres, ahead of the same period in 2018.

If this growth continues into the second half of 2019, the UK could be on course to produce close to 15bn litres.

The UK is the third-largest milk producer in Europe, behind Germany and France.