New Zealand milk production rallies

Milk supply in New Zealand was back 1.9% for March due in large part to a persistent drought. However, supplies recovered somewhat for April and finished the month 0.5% back on the same month last year. Year on year, New Zealand is back about 0.5% in milk supply.

US cattle kill recovers

There was further recovery in the US cattle kill last week to 555,000, as factories recover from the impact of COVID-19. This is up from 499,000 the previous week, but still well down on the 647,000 processed in the same week last year.

Big fall in Irish pigmeat to Japan

Japan imported just 528t of pig meat from Ireland in the first quarter of 2020, down from 2,794t in the same period in 2019. Increased demand from China plus disruption to shipping container availability because of COVID-19 in China made life difficult for global Irish exports in the first quarter of the year.

Problems for Polish poultry

The closure of catering and hospitality sectors across Europe has led to a fall of 13% in the farmgate value of Polish broilers between the beginning of March and the end of April, according to USDA. The industry has the added problem of avian flu, with 32 outbreaks reported so far this year to 21 May.