In June 2016, some 204.29m litres of milk was produced in Northern Ireland, which is a 5.2% drop in milk production levels on June 2015, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has said.

In total between January to June this year some 1,204.33m litres of milk has been produced in the North, 0.2% lower year-on-year, DAERA figures show.

Figures from DAERA show that in the period from January to December 2015 the volume of raw milk produced was 2266.26m litres, 2.8% higher than January to December 2014.

Meanwhile, in June 2016 the Northern Ireland average farm gate price of milk (including retrospective bonuses) was 17.54p/L (20.66c/L), 2.49p/L (2.93c/L) lower than June 2015.

The June 2016 milk price is down 12% on the corresponding period last year. From January to June 2016, the average milk price was 18.1p/L (21.33c/L), a 17% drop year-on-year.

The weighted average farm gate price of milk during January to December 2015 was 20.77p/L (24.48c/L), 8.54p/L (10.06c/L) lower than the same period in 2014, according to DAERA.

Latest figures show Irish June milk ahead of last year’s figures

In the Republic of Ireland, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that milk intake by Irish processors in June was up on June 2015 figures.

Processors took in approximately 856.2m litres in June 2016, which was 4.5% above the corresponding 2015 figure.

The figures show that while the amount of milk sold for human consumption increased by 3.4% to 43.2m litres, butter production was down 8.7% to 21,100t, after being up in May by 10.5%.

The June figures are back somewhat on supplies taken in May, which were estimated at 918.0m.

That was a 4.9% increase in volumes above the corresponding figure for milk production for May 2015.