Executive Summary

Milk production figures throughout the major dairy exporting regions of New Zealand, the EU-27+UK, the U.S., Australia and Argentina were recently updated with values spanning through Feb ’22. Highlights from the updated figures include:

• Combined milk production within the major dairy exporting regions declined 0.8% on a YOY basis throughout Feb ’22, finishing below previous year levels for the sixth consecutive month.
• Feb ’22 YOY declines in milk production on a percentage basis were led by New Zealand, followed by Australia and the U.S. Production volumes finished above previous year levels throughout the EU-27+UK and Argentina.
• Excluding the U.S., milk production within the major dairy exporting regions declined by 0.8% on a YOY basis throughout the month of February, finishing slightly above the growth rate exhibited within the U.S. for the second consecutive month.

Additional Report Details

Combined milk production within the major dairy exporting regions of New Zealand, the EU-27+UK, the U.S., Australia and Argentina finished 0.8% below previous year levels throughout Feb ’22. Despite declining on a YOY basis, combined milk production volumes remained at the second highest seasonal level on record. The aforementioned regions combined to account for 90% of global butter, cheese, whole milk powder and nonfat dry milk export volumes throughout 2021.

Combined milk production volumes finished largely flat or lower on a YOY basis over eight consecutive months through Jun ’19, prior to finishing higher throughout each of the past 26 months through Aug ’21. More recently, combined milk production volumes have finished below previous year levels over six consecutive months through Feb ’22. The Feb ’22 YOY decline in combined milk production volumes was the smallest experienced throughout the past three months, however.

Feb ’22 YOY declines in milk production on a percentage basis were led by New Zealand (-8.2%), followed by Australia (-6.1%) and the U.S. (-0.9%). Milk production volumes finished above previous year levels throughout the EU-27+UK (+0.4%) and Argentina (+3.6%). The EU-27+UK produces significantly more milk than the other dairy exporting regions, accounting for over half of the combined production within the five exporting regions throughout Feb ’22.

Excluding the U.S., milk production within the major dairy exporting regions declined by 0.8% on a YOY basis throughout the month of February, finishing above the growth rate exhibited within the U.S. for the second consecutive month.

More recent milk production figures for the month of March have been made available for the U.S. Production remained below previous year levels for the fifth consecutive month, down 0.5%.