Milk Yields Lowest for a Decade
UK - For the first time in more than 10 years average British milk yields have dropped, while proteins have increased.
29 January 2008
1 minute read
According to data on 60 per cent of British dairy cows published in the latest NMR Annual Production Report to September 2007, Holstein milk production - which accounts for 91.7 per cent of all recorded lactations - average milk yield has dropped by 6kg to 8,264kg.
However data shows that protein percentage has improved in all the major dairy breeds while fat percentages have in some cases dropped.
Average somatic cell count (SCC) and calving index continued to rise across all breeds.
"The fall in milk yield may be the effect of poor forage fed during the 2006/07 winter,” says NMR national field manager Jonathan Davies.
