The volume of milk supplied to co-ops increased by 675.8m litres in October 2024 when compared with October 2023, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This represents an increase of 87.2m litres or 14.8% compared to the same month last year.

Fat content for October 2024 was 4.93%, up marginally from 4.92% in October 2023. Protein content was also up from 3.93% to 4.03% in the 12 months to October 2024.

Butter production rose from 20,700t in October 2023 to 25,000 tonnes in October 2024, an increase of 4,300t.

Meanwhile, from January to October 2024 milk intake was estimated at 7.66bn litres, a decline of 215.3m litres (-2.7%) when compared with the same period in 2023, and down by 401m litres (-5%) when compared with January to October 2022.