Germany hits cheese export high

Once again, cheese exports out of Germany are hitting an all-time high with a government estimate of 362,000 tonnes exported in the first four months of this year. This represents an increase of 7% for the period with demand from main customers Italy and the Netherlands increasing by an extra 11% and 14% respectively. The Ministry of Agriculture in Berlin says that butter and milk powder exports have also increased strongly on the year so far. Behind the renewed successes is a very confident dairy farming sector with German herd sizes expanding rapidly.

This buoyancy has resulted in 32,000 more milkers in the national herd this June compared to just six months beforehand. At the same time, milk production has slumped in other leading dairying countries. Output from French farmers is down 4% January to end of April, in Italy the deficit is 6% and in the UK 7% less milk has been produced, according to German assessments.