European Union-Drop in Dairy cattle numbers.

EUROPEAN UNION-DROP IN DAIRY HERD.

Within this the Commission project that a 5 per cent fall in EU dairy cow numbers will be more than offset by an 8 per cent rise in average milk yields, says Irish Food Board, Bord Bia. These projections take into account the quota increases agreed as part of the recent ’Health Check’, which will result in 5 per cent extra quota being available to producers by 2013 before quotas are removed in 2015. No other policy changes are considered in this analysis.

Within the dairy sector, cheese production is forecast to show the strongest growth over the period, rising by 10 per cent to 9.9 million tonnes by 2015. This growth is forecasted to be driven by continued strong consumption levels, with consumption up 11 per cent from 2009 levels to 9.4 million tonnes consumed in 2015. However, cheese exports are expected to fall by three per cent in the same period to just over 500,000 tonnes.