Monthly Dairy Costings Overview

The continuing dry weather severely restricted grass growth, leaving many farms with limited grazing and little available forage. As a result, many farmers had to start using their winter feed stocks earlier than planned, placing additional pressure on feed supplies and production costs. With milk output being constrained and available milk volumes falling, prices are increasing month by month, averaging 36.54ppl in August 2026, although this remains 19% lower than in the same month last year.

Milk from forage averaged 7.7 litres/cow/day, 5% higher than August 2025, which was also a period that suffered drought, although not as severe as 2026.

August 2026 milk yields have remained similar at 26.6 litres/cow/day compared with the same month last year. Concentrate prices averaged £301/tonne for August 2026, similar to August 2025.

The average margin over purchased feed for the month was £172 per cow, a decrease of 25% compared to the same month last year.

Rolling trends for the year ending August 2026 include:

• Concentrate use per cow remained similar to last year at 3014kg/cow.
• Margin over purchased feed per litre was down 18.5% on last year to 27.10ppl.
• Bulk cell counts decreased to 153 (‘000).
• Yields averaged 8,992 litres per cow, increasing by 3% compared to the 12 months ending August 2025.
• Milk from forage was up 11.8% compared to the preceding 12 months to 2,744 litres per cow, providing 31% of total yield.
• Purchased feed costs were 11.04ppl, a decrease of 4.8% compared to last year, with concentrate prices of £297/tonne compared to £306/tonne in the previous year.
• Milk price was down by 15% to 38.14ppl compared to the same month last year.