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NI Milk Quality Statistics

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has made available information on the quality of raw milk produced in Northern Ireland during the period January to March 2012.
The statistics were collated by the Department on behalf of the Northern Ireland dairy industry and are based on returns made by milk purchasers to the Department’s Food Policy Branch.
Microbiological quality of raw milk is measured by total bacterial count (TBC) and somatic cell count (SCC).  TBC is an indication of the state of hygiene on each dairy farm and SCC provides an indication of the health status of each herd.  The compositional quality of milk is measured by the percentage butterfat, protein and lactose.

NORTHERN IRELAND MILK QUALITY STATISTICS 2012

(Weighed Arithmetic Average)
  TBC (’000 per ml) TBC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) Butterfat % Butterfat % Protein % Protein % Lactose % Lactose %
Month 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
January 19 17 239 216 4.05 4.04 3.25 3.20 4.66 4.66
February 18 16 229 222 3.98 4.02 3.20 3.19 4.67 4.63
March 17 17 237 224 3.99 3.98 3.19 3.17 4.68 4.71

NORTHERN IRELAND MILK QUALITY STATISTICS 2011

(Weighed Arithmetic Average)
  TBC (’000 per ml) TBC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) Butterfat % Butterfat % Protein % Protein % Lactose % Lactose %
Month 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011
January 17 19 228 239 4.15 4.05 3.27 3.25 4.71 4.66
February 15 18 232 229 4.10 3.98 3.22 3.20 4.73 4.67
March 16 17 236 237 4.08 3.99 3.21 3.19 4.75 4.68
April 17 19 238 254 4.03 3.97 3.19 3.17 4.73 4.68
May 17 17 235 244 3.84 3.85 3.23 3.22 4.70 4.68
June 18 18 243 256 3.80 3.89 3.24 3.23 4.66 4.65
July 19 20 273 265 3.87 3.87 3.22 3.23 4.61 4.60
August 18 18 267 281 3.92 3.94 3.26 3.26 4.58 4.57
September 19 19 259 265 4.05 4.10 3.35 3.33 4.58 4.55
October 17 20 259 247 4.16 4.14 3.42 3.29 4.56 4.56
November 17 19 237 233 4.18 4.15 3.35 3.27 4.61 4.59
December 17 16 232 223 4.17 4.13 3.32 3.26 4.62 4.65
Annual 17 18 246 248 4.02 3.99 3.27 3.24 4.65 4.63

NORTHERN IRELAND MILK QUALITY STATISTICS 2010

(Weighed Arithmetic Average)
  TBC (’000 per ml) TBC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) Butterfat % Butterfat % Protein % Protein % Lactose % Lactose %
Month 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010
January 17 17 230 228 4.08 4.15 3.26 3.27 4.69 4.71
February 18 15 232 232 4.07 4.10 3.23 3.22 4.72 4.73
March 18 16 237 236 4.05 4.08 3.22 3.21 4.73 4.75
April 16 17 244 238 4.03 4.03 3.21 3.19 4.73 4.73
May 18 17 254 235 3.95 3.84 3.23 3.23 4.77 4.70
June 19 18 264 243 3.89 3.80 3.23 3.24 4.69 4.66
July 18 19 262 273 3.92 3.87 3.21 3.22 4.63 4.61
August 20 18 277 267 4.02 3.92 3.26 3.26 4.63 4.58
September 19 19 270 259 4.13 4.05 3.35 3.35 4.58 4.58
October 17 17 248 259 4.19 4.16 3.39 3.42 4.58 4.56
November 16 17 245 237 4.19 4.18 3.32 3.35 4.62 4.61
December 14 17 232 232 4.17 4.17 3.28 3.32 4.64 4.62
Annual 18 17 250 246 4.04 4.02 3.26 3.27 4.68 4.65

NORTHERN IRELAND MILK QUALITY STATISTICS 2009

(Weighed Arithmetic Average)
  TBC (’000 per ml) TBC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) SCC (’000 per ml) Butterfat % Butterfat % Protein % Protein % Lactose % Lactose %
Month 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008 2009
January 14 17 236 230 4.01 4.08 3.18 3.26 4.68 4.69
February 14 18 235 232 3.95 4.07 3.17 3.23 4.69 4.72
March 14 18 236 237 3.97 4.05 3.18 3.22 4.71 4.73
April 14 16 238 244 3.98 4.03 3.19 3.21 4.71 4.73
May 17 18 242 254 3.81 3.95 3.25 3.23 4.71 4.77
June 16 19 245 264 3.82 3.89 3.23 3.23 4.71 4.69
July 17 18 260 262 3.89 3.92 3.24 3.21 4.65 4.63
August 18 20 268 277 3.97 4.02 3.26 3.26 4.61 4.63
September 20 19 275 270 4.08 4.13 3.36 3.35 4.54 4.58
October 18 17 259 248 4.18 4.19 3.38 3.39 4.58 4.58
November 17 16 242 245 4.16 4.19 3.35 3.32 4.63 4.62
December 17 14 231 232 4.15 4.17 3.30 3.28 4.67 4.64
Annual 16 18 247 250 3.98 4.04 3.26 3.26 4.66 4.68