There is an estimated 8,820 dairy producers in Britain, a reduction of 30-35 compared with February when the survey was first completed.
The release of the estimate on Wednesday (23 October) by AHDB Dairy shows that on average, one British dairy farmer has left the industry per week since February.
The figure represents the number of producers actively contributing to Britain's milk production.
It is based on the number of active producers and temporary inactive producers from the milk buyers that contribute to the Daily Milk Deliveries survey.
This covers approximately 75% of volumes in Britain, and so the estimate has been adjusted accordingly. A figure based on levy data has been used to account for direct suppliers.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is often used to track producer numbers across England and Wales, based on the number of farmers registered to produce milk.
It has been undertaking a cleansing process since November last year and as such, its numbers have fallen significantly over that time, resulting in a lack of clarity on the actual number of producers.
The number of dairy holdings reported by Defra includes all farms with a dairy cow over 2 years old with offspring.
The latest data, for 2017, showed there were 16,605 dairy holdings in Britain, a much larger number than AHDB's estimate.
However, nearly 40% of these holdings had fewer than 10 cows, meaning they are unlikely to be commercial dairy farms.
