Irish milk yields fall by nearly 2kg per cow in two weeks
Data from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation shows average yield at 14.66kg per cow per day in early November, well below mid-October levels. Farmers are advised to balance diets and keep milk quality high.
Milk production in Ireland is dropping quickly as November progresses, according to figures from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), reported by the farming news site AgriLand. The trend matters for dairy farmers because the remaining weeks before cows are dried off still offer a considerable volume of milk solids, which feed into winter cash flow.
What the data shows
Milk recordings for 140,453 cows were logged between October 27 and November 6. They came from 1,253 herds, with an average herd size of 107. In total, 1,131,038 cows from 8,944 herds have been recorded in 2026.
Average output over the last 10 days is 14.66kg of milk per cow per day. Fat has risen to 5.02% and protein stands at 4.19%, giving total solids production of 1.34kg per cow.
In mid-October, cows were producing 16.15kg of milk at 4.97% fat and 4.26% protein, equal to 1.44kg of solids. In the same week last year, the average was 15.67kg at 5% fat and 4.15% protein, or 1.42kg of solids. This year's output is therefore lower, even though conditions have been described as relatively good.
Advice for farmers
The publication says diets should be balanced as grass quality declines, since several weeks remain before drying off. On a 100-cow farm, keeping solids above 1.3kg per cow would mean just under 3,000kg of solids to sell to the co-op.
Milk prices are moving in a favourable direction, so these sales will help build cash for the winter. Teagasc, Ireland's agriculture advisory and research body, recommends a working capital reserve of €500 per cow. Farmers are also urged to keep somatic cell counts, thermodurics and total bacteria counts as low as possible to qualify for available bonuses, and to be firm in culling cows that do not perform, as they cut into profit.
