Milk production in Germany and France, Europe’s two largest dairy producing countries, declined for the month April, according to new figures from Eurostat.

In Germany, Europe’s largest milk-producing member state, April milk supplies dropped 0.5% year on year to just under 2.7bn litres.

This brings German milk production for the first four months of 2019 (Jan-Apr) to a cumulative 10.5bn litres, which is marginally (-0.4%) behind the same period last year.

French collection

In France, Europe’s second-largest milk-producing member state, milk collections from dairy farms in April stood at 2.1bn litres, which is down 1% on the same month last year.

French milk production from January to April stands at a cumulative 8.2bn litres, which is 1.8% behind the same period last year.

In contrast, April milk production in Poland stood at just over 1bn litres, which is almost 3% ahead of the same month last year.

Polish milk production in the first four months of 2019 stands at just over 3.9bn litres, which is 4% ahead of last year.