Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of dairy farms in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
The number of dairy farms in England from 2000 to 2010 is shown in the following table. The source of cattle population data changed in 2006 from the June Survey to the administrative Cattle Tracing System (CTS) data so the 2006 data are shown on both bases for comparison.Also shown is UK milk production and milk yields to put the figures into context. The long term trends in dairy production is towards fewer, larger and more productive herds. So while the number of dairy farms has decreased significantly over the past decade, the level of (UK) milk production has only fallen by 4%.
| Number of dairy farms | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number¹ | Number² | UK milk production (million litres)³ | Average UK milk yield (litres per cow per year) | |
| 2000 | — | 15,219 | 14,071 | 5,979 |
| 2001 | — | 14,293 | 14,284 | 6,346 |
| 2002 | — | 14,537 | 14,440 | 6,493 |
| 2003 | — | 13,770 | 14,576 | 6,621 |
| 2004 | — | 13,264 | 14,127 | 6,763 |
| 2005 | — | 12,918 | 14,052 | 6,986 |
| 2006 | 11,522 | 11,079 | 13,902 | 6,977 |
| 2007 | 10,907 | — | 13,619 | 6,913 |
| 2008 | 10,331 | — | 13,319 | 6,943 |
| 2009 | 9,805 | — | 13,197 | 7,068 |
| 2010 | 9,461 | — | 13,533 | 7,301 |
| ¹ Sourced from Cattle Tracing System. Defined as the number of holdings with more than 10 dairy cows over two years old in the milking herd (i.e. with offspring). | ||||
| ² Sourced from June Survey. Defined as the number of holdings with dairy as the predominant farming activity. | ||||
| ³ Source DEFRA and RPA statistics. |