- Home
- Food and farming
- Food
- Food industry
- Food industry sectors
- Milk and milk products
- UK dairy industry
Milk and milk products: UK dairy industry
Dairy farming in the UK is largely a semi-intensive livestock industry. It accounts for around 17 per cent of UK agricultural production by value and is the single largest agricultural sector at £3.0 billion. Annual production is around 13.2 billion litres.
The UK dairy herd stands at around 1.9 million head. In 2009, there were around 16,404 dairy producers in the UK. However the average herd size in the UK is 113 cows per herd (with considerable regional variation). This is significantly above the EU15 average of 42, and the trend is for the herd size to increase further.
Yield per cow is increasing and is around 7,084 litres per cow per annum. Again this is much higher than the EU average.
The four largest processors in the UK are estimated to process around 51 per cent of UK milk production. Of the raw milk produced in the UK, 53 per cent is used to produce liquid milk, the next largest use is cheese production at 27 per cent.
Although the UK is largely self-sufficient in milk, the value of UK exports of milk products is significantly lower than the value of imports and in 2008 the UK had a trade deficit of about £1,266m in dairy products.
See also
More statistical data:
Page last modified: 3 September 2010
Page published: 21 July 2009