EU cow’s-milk collection rose 3.7% in January–May 2026 versus the same period in 2025, the European Commission reported, with May 2026 up 2.4% year on year, Forum Mleczarskie reports.
The highest collection growth in January–May 2026 was in Belgium (+8.9%), Austria (+8.1%) and Germany (+6.6%), while the biggest falls were in Romania (-11%), Estonia (-10.3%) and Latvia (-4.6%).
Per EU statistics, May 2026 milk production rose 5.4% in Australia, 3.6% in New Zealand and 2.3% in the US, but fell 0.9% in the UK.
By product, EU production changes for January–May 2026 were: butter (+9.7%), skimmed milk powder (SMP) (+12%), whole milk powder (WMP) (-5.1%), cream (-0.3%), condensed milk (-3.8%), drinking milk (+1%), fermented milk (+4.2%) and cheese (+3.2%).
Organic milk made up 3.5% of total raw milk collected in May 2026, led by Austria (18.4%), Denmark and Sweden (9.8% each), with the lowest shares in Poland and Ireland (0.1% each) and Portugal (0.3%).
Source: Forum Mleczarskie
