Milk yields in Britain may be returning to historically normal levels after breaking records since November last year.
Milk production in Britain has been high since November 2018, figures from AHDB Dairy shows.
But the rate of growth has been falling, suggesting that yields may be now be slowing down.
Estimated average daily milk yields have been up by as much as 8% on the year, far greater than the average 1.5% annual increase.
In March, average daily milk yields were up 1.7 litres/cow (7.9%) on last year.
However, this growth was amplified as extreme weather resulted in disruption to collections last year.
While the annual growth rate is still high in historical terms, since March, growth has been falling month-on-month.
Yields in April and May were up 7.5% and 4.4% respectively. So far in June (1st to 15th), yields have averaged 23.4 litres/head/day, 4.2% more than the same period last year.
What does the future hold?
Analysts at AHDB Dairy highlighted that the strong growth in yields seen throughout the winter months is unlikely to be maintained, as the inclusion of concentrates in diet is reduced in favour of forage.
As such, it is expected that yields are likely to return to more normal levels as the year progresses.
