Milk production fell by more than 80 million litres in February, compared with the previous year, according to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

The United Kingdom wholesale milk deliveries totaled 976 million litres in February bringing the cumulative total for the year to 11,860.2 million litres.

The wholesale delivery figures have not been adjusted for butterfat content and all figures are provisional. RPA relies on individual purchasers to provide the data, which is supplied ‘subject to confirmation’ and may be amended.

According to provisional figures from the RPA, milk production was 81.3m litres or 7.7% lower than in February last year - although when adjusted for the leap year, the gap narrows to just under 45m litres.

Higher cream and butter values meant the Dairy Group's market price equivalent - based on a basket of commodity prices - held steady in February, at 29.92p/litre. "With UK production set to track 5% below last year until May/June, higher UK prices will be required to encourage improved supply," said director Nick Holt-Martyn.

Cumulative production for the milk year to date reached 11.86bn litres - 435.6m litres less than the same time last year. However, butterfat remained at recent high levels, averaging 4.13% for the month and 4.07% cumulatively.