Executive Summary EU-28 milk production figures provided by Eurostat were recently updated with values spanning through Jan ’20. Highlights from the updated report include:

• EU-28 milk production finished higher on a YOY basis for the 12^th consecutive month during Jan ’20, increasing 1.1% to a record high seasonal level.
• Jan ’20 YOY increases in milk production were led by the Netherlands, followed by France and Poland, while YOY declines in milk production were led by the United Kingdom. Overall, 19 of the 28 member states experienced YOY increases in milk production throughout the month.
• EU-28 beef & dairy cow slaughter rates finished higher on a YOY basis for the first time in the past seven months during Dec ’19 when normalizing for slaughter days, increasing by 1.0%.

Additional Report Details According to Eurostat, Jan ’20 EU-28 milk production volumes increased 2.3% on a daily average basis from the previous month while finishing 1.1% higher YOY, finishing at a record high seasonal level. Production volumes for Austria, Greece and Ireland are not yet available and have been estimated based on previous month YOY changes in production. Austria, Greece and Ireland have accounted for less than eight percent of total EU-28 production volumes over the previous 12 months. ’18-’19 annual EU-28 milk production volumes increased 0.3% YOY to a record high level, despite declining by 0.1% on a YOY basis throughout the second half of the production season. ’19-’20 YTD EU-28 milk production volumes have increased an additional 0.8% on a YOY basis throughout the first ten months of the production season. The Jan ’20 YOY increase in EU-28 milk production volumes was the 12^th experienced in a row. USDA expects EU-28 milk production volumes to remain higher on a YOY basis throughout the 2020 calendar year as pasture conditions are expected to continue to rebound from recently experienced drought related forage shortages. USDA is projecting a 0.4% YOY increase in EU-28 milk production volumes throughout the 2020 calendar year, slightly smaller than the 0.6% YOY increase in production volumes experienced throughout 2019. Jan ’20 YOY increases in production on an absolute basis were led by the Netherlands, followed by France and Poland, while YOY declines in production on an absolute basis were led by the United Kingdom. YOY increases in production on a percentage basis were led by Greece (+11.6%), followed by Bulgaria (+9.6%) and Luxembourg (+7.6%), while declines in production on a percentage basis were most significant within Croatia (-5.1%), followed by Ireland (-4.8%) and the United Kingdom (-1.8%). Seven of the top ten milk producing member states experienced YOY increases in milk production during Jan ’20 as production within the top ten milk producing member states increased by a weighted average of 1.1% throughout the month. The top ten EU-28 milk producing member states accounted for over 85% of the total EU-28 milk production experienced throughout the month. Overall, 19 of the 28 member states experienced YOY increases in production volumes during Jan ’20. EU-28 beef & dairy cow slaughter finished higher on a YOY basis for the first time in the past seven months during Dec ’19 when normalizing for slaughter days, increasing by 1.0%. YOY increases in beef & dairy cow slaughter were most significant within Germany, followed by the Netherlands and Poland. ’18-’19 annual EU-28 bovine slaughter increased on a YOY basis for the fifth consecutive year, finishing up 0.5% to the highest figure on record, despite declining by 1.0% on a YOY basis over the second half of the production season. USDA expects the EU-28 dairy cow herd to decline 0.4% throughout the 2020 calendar year due to feed shortages stemming from the recent drought but noted additional culling rates, coupled with improved genetics, are expected to have a positive impact on future per cow productivity as lower producing animals are culled.