UK Milk Prices

UK - The latest national statistics produced by Defra on UK milk prices and composition of milk says that the farmgate price of milk is lower than a year ago, whilst butterfat and protein content have remained fairly similar.
calendar icon 15 March 2010
clock icon 2 minute read

Key points

This release shows the latest monthly information on the average UK farm gate milk prices and the UK average butterfat and protein of milk delivered to dairies.

  • In January 2010 the UK average farm gate price of milk (excluding bonuses) was 24.67 pence per litre, 0.89 pence per litre lower than in January 2009.
  • In 2009 the UK annual average farm gate price of milk (excluding bonuses) was 23.71 pence per litre, 2.20 pence per litre lower than in 2008.
  • In January 2010 the average butterfat content of UK milk was 4.11 per cent, compared with 4.14 per cent in January 2009.
  • In January 2010 the average protein content of UK milk was 3.30 per cent, compared with 3.27 per cent in January 2009.

Section 1: UK farm gate milk price (pence per litre)

Table 1 shows average UK farm gate milk prices calculated from monthly surveys of milk purchasers conducted in England and Wales by Defra, in Scotland by RERAD and in Northern Ireland by DARD. These surveys together account for approximately 92 per cent of UK milk bought by milk purchasers this month.

From May to July 2009 this weighted average price was affected by Dairy Farmers of Britain going into receivership. This resulted in some producers not receiving any payment for milk supplied in May 2009 and a reduced payment for milk supplied in June and July 2009, slightly lowering the average UK milk price. The effect was negligible in July 2009, but users should be careful when comparing the May and June prices with those for previous months.

To aid comparisons with previous months a weighted average price received by producers, excluding those that supplied Dairy Farmers of Britain, has also been provided for January 2009 to June 2009, and for 2009 as a whole.

Table 1: UK farm gate price of milk (pence per litre)

Section 2: Composition of milk in the UK

Average butterfat and protein contents are derived from information provided by milk purchasers via the monthly returns to the Rural Payments Agency with additional protein data from Defra’s monthly survey of milk purchasers in England and Wales.

Table 2: Average Butterfat and Protein Content of UK Produced Milk

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.

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