GB milking herd continues to decline, new data shows

Britain's milking herd continues to wane as new figures show another decline compared to the same point in 2021.

As at 1 July 2022, there was a total of 1.63 million cows in the GB dairy herd, according to data published by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS).

This is a one percent reduction compared to the same point in the previous year, the equivalent of 17,000 head.

The milking herd has been on steady downwards trajectory for several years now.

By contrast, youngstock - under 2 years old - numbers have been increasing, BCMS figures show.

Youngstock numbers totalled 941,000, an increase of 31,000 head (3.4%) on the same time last year.

Looking at the data, AHDB Dairy said the GB milking herd continued to decrease in number.

But it said this may begin to 'stabilise' in the future due to the increase in youngstock numbers.

Charlotte Forkes-Rees, AHDB analyst said: "Conversely, given the financial pressures farmers are under we could instead see additional destocking, either as an overall contraction to ease financial burdens or to make room for youngstock moving up.

"Based on cull cow numbers, this does not appear to have happened to date, however it will be a point of discussion with industry at this week’s milk forecasting forum."