Factors shaping cow's milk production in the EU

Abstract

The milk market in the European Union (EU) is adjusting rapidly to the removal of dairy quotas. The most important changes include increased milk yield per cow, increased total milk production, decreased number of cows, and the decreased milk consumption. The main aim of the paper is to examine the milk production changes in the EU. We investigated the dynamics of changes in farm milk production during the period from 1998-2017 in the EU. Moreover, we investigated the impact of the removal of quotas on the production of milk on farms in the EU countries for the period from 2015-2017. Milk production in the EU increased from 151 million tons in 1998 to 165 million tons in 2017 (a 10% increase). A multi-variate regression model was to test which explanatory variables have an impact on milk production in the EU. The most important factors were a gross domestic product, final household consumption expenditure (current prices, million euro), and population (number).