Farmers down 240 million litres of milk after heat
Milk yield was affected by a series of extreme heatwaves which led to poor grazing conditions, researchers say.
Farmers lose 240 million litres of milk after heat
Debbie Wilkins is among the farmers in England and Wales who have begun feeding their cattle winter feed
Extreme heat this summer has caused dairy farmers to produce 240 million fewer litres of milk than expected, researchers have said.
Farmers supplied four fewer days’ worth of milk than would normally be expected between May and August, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
With the heat causing poor grazing conditions, reduced harvests and heat stress in livestock in England and Wales, many farmers have started giving cattle winter feed, including Debbie Wilkins, a dairy and beef farmer in Gloucestershire.
"The costs pile up when you have to bring the cows indoors and the loss of milk production compounds the issue," she said.
Wilkins, who farms in Prior's Norton, said it had been a "difficult" summer.
Overall, the ECIU said dairy farmers lost milk worth more than £83m - enough to fill more than one billion school milk cartons.
This comes after the UK's hottest summer on record in 2026, with five severe heatwaves and drought declarations.
But although farmers delivered far less than expected over the summer, the ECIU said UK milk production could still reach near-record levels in 2026.
It said this was because farmers had built up a buffer earlier in 2026, which had partly offset the litres lost during the summer.
More shade, trees and water are needed if farmers are to withstand future extreme weather events, the ECIU said.
The ECIU said the consolidation of dairy farms in recent years had enabled "economies of scale and mechanisation to increase milk outputs while the herd size reduces".
Tom Cantillon, a senior analyst at ECIU, said future heatwaves would become increasingly difficult to recover from, especially as milk was an "unforgiving product in farming" because it cannot be stockpiled.
"The costs don't stop now that the rain has come," Cantillon said.
"A second bad year for grass has pushed farmers into their winter forage early, with feed prices to follow."
Cantillon said farmers needed support to roll out climate resilience measures such as more shade, trees and water.