Domestic milk intake drops by over 19 million litres in May
Domestic mil intake reportedly dropped by 1.6% in May 2026.
Domestic milk intake dropped by 1.6%, equivalent to 19.1 million litres, when compared with May 2025 figures.
Despite this drop, an estimated total of 1.16bn litres was recorded as May 2026 domestic milk intake by milk processors and co-ops. Comparing figures from the same month in 2024, intake increased by 5.1% (56.9m litres).
For the period January to May 2026, Domestic Milk Intake was estimated at 3.55 billion litres, down 25.0 million litres (0.7%) when compared with the same period in 2025 but up 228.1 million litres (6.9%) when compared with January to May 2024.
Global Dairy Trade reported a combined May price increase of 2.1%, with most Irish co-ops increasing May milk prices slightly or remaining at the same level as the previous month’s figures.
Fat content dropped to 4.10% in May 2026 from 4.26% recorded by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in April 2026. The May 2026 figures were up from 3.98% recorded in 2025 in the same month. Protein content also rose from 3.47% to 3.51% in the 12 months to May 2026.
Total milk sold for human consumption rose from April to May 2026 to 46m litres. The 2026 figure was also an increase on May 2025, which recorded 43.3m litres sold for human consumption.
From that total of 46m litres, whole milk sales made up 32.6m litres and skimmed and semi-skimmed milk sales made up the remaining 13.5m litres. Butter production in May 2026 was 35,900 tonnes, up from 34,400 tonnes in May 2025.
