The United Kingdom In the past year, 350 dairy farmers in Great Britain have left the industry primarily due to low farmgate returns. In England, Scotland, and Wales, there were 7,500 dairy farmers left as of the end of October 2023. Compared to the same time last year, that is a drop of 4.5%.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, a Great Britain levy board supported by farmers and growers as well as other supply chain participants, surveyed key milk consumers to get the statistics. Additionally, the survey discovered that 70 producers had stopped since its April 2023 survey.

The ongoing reduction in the number of dairy farms is attributed to falling milk prices, which, when combined with rising input costs, drive out farmers who are striving to turn a profit. The average price of milk in September 2023 was reported by the agriculture department of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland to be 36.36 UK pence per liter, or roughly 21 U.S. cents per pound. That is a drop of nearly 13 pence per liter from 2022 to the same month this year.

Key agricultural inputs are experiencing less inflation. However, there is still a great deal of market instability and historically high farm costs for things like energy, fuel, feed, and fertilizer. Farm margins have tightened as a result.

Conversely, the average amount of milk produced by each farm has increased year. However, it stays consistent when compared to April 2023 quantities, suggesting a move in favor of larger farms. In addition, several farmers pushed their cows for higher yields in order to maximize gains due to the spike in milk prices in the latter half of 2022. However, as 2023 has gone on, farms have concentrated on raising productivity and cutting expenses. Grazing cow milk outputs were sustained over most of the 2023 season by greater grass growth than both the previous season and the five-year average.

Farmers Face Financial Hardship Amidst Falling Dairy Prices in the UK from Farmersrathna Agri-news

Great Britain's milk output has started to decline in recent months, with September and October volumes being 1.3% and 2.7% lower respectively than the previous year. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board predicts that pattern will persist until the upcoming growing season.

In December 2023, the agriculture department announced its most recent census results, which showed a growth in the number of dairy farms in the nation. In 2023, there were 2,613 dairy farms in Northern Ireland, according to the census, and 319,346 dairy cows. In contrast, there will be 2,608 dairy farms with 316,775 cows in 2022.