The measures implemented by the Dutch government earlier this year to control phosphates are certainly having an impact and are keeping the handbrake on Dutch milk supply.

The latest figures from the Netherlands show milk collections from dairy farms in August stood at 1.14bn litres, which is almost 2% down on the same month last year.

Dutch milk production from January to August is running at 0.8% behind last year, with 9.3bn litres collected from farmers in the first eight months of 2017. While this is behind last year, Dutch milk production is actually holding up well, despite a shrinking dairy herd over the last 12 months.

Figures released by the Dutch dairy industry show the national dairy cow herd at the end of June 2017 was just under 1.7m head, which is 50,000 head lower (-3%) than the same time last year. While there was a significant jump in Dutch cattle slaughterings in March when the phosphate measures were first introduced, the national monthly cattle kill in the Netherlands has been steady in the months after.

The monthly kill for April, May and June reverted back to normal levels, around 50,000 head per month.

In the US, dairy farmers continue to expand milk production at a very steady rate. For August, US milk collections are up 2% year on year, close to 8bn litres. This brings total US milk production for the first eight months of 2017 to 64bn litres, which is 1.6% ahead of last year.