According to Kingshay’s October 2025 dairy costings, the sector continues to show resilence. Recent UK milk price cuts, prompted by an oversupplied market, have resulted in declining returns, yet lowering feed costs have helped offset much of this pressure.
The average margin over purchased feed for the month was £261 per cow, a 13% increase compared to the same period last year .
October 2025 saw concentrate prices average £296/tonne, a 3% drop compared to October last year and the lowest we have seen since April 2022, this is partly due to a combination of global oversupply driven by favourable harvests worldwide and markets correcting themselves after the sharp rise in prices in 2022/2023. Milk prices for October 2025 averaged 45.68ppl, up by 2% compared to October 2024.
Milk from forage averaged 7.7 litres/cow/day, an 18% increase compared with October 2024. The prolonged dry weather and lack of grass growth meant many farmers had to feed more concentrates to maintain production. This additional input contributed to higher overall milk yields, which rose by 8% year-on-year to 28.2 litres/cow/day.
Rolling trends for the year ending October 2025 include -
- Concentrate use per cow was up 5.3% compared to last year at 2,999kg/cow.
- Margin over purchased feed per litre was up 18.9% on last year to 33.47ppl.
- Bulk cell counts decreased to 151 (‘000).
- Yields averaged 8,717 litres per cow, increasing by 3.1% compared to the 12 months ending October 2024.
- Milk from forage was down 2.4% compared to the preceding 12 months to 2,480 litres per cow, providing 29% of total yield.
- Purchased feed costs were 11.47ppl, a decrease of 1.1% compared to last year, with concentrate prices of £303/tonne compared to £317/tonne in the previous year.
- Milk price was 13.1% higher than the preceding 12 months at 44.95ppl.
Click here for the full results.
More in-depth analysis of herds using Kingshay’s costings service can be found in Kingshay’s Dairy Costings Focus Report or call 01458 851555 for more details.
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If you are interested in analysing and comparing your herd’s figures with other similar herds, give us a call on 01458 851555. More details of this simple and easy-to-use service can be found here.