Global milk production among major exporting nations is set to rebound in 2014 with output forecast to grow by 1.5 percent to 275.8 million tons – up about 4.2 million tons - largely due to higher milk prices, favorable weather, and lower feed costs. This in contrast to 2013, when milk output among the five major countries fell slightly due to a short but severe drought in New Zealand and cold spring weather in the EU which coupled with high feed prices negatively impacted farmers. The most significant percentage increase in production is expected to occur in New Zealand where most of the milk is processed for the export market. High payout prices are expected to spur dairy farmers to increase production by 5 percent or 891,000 tons. This is almost the equivalent volume increase forecast for the EU.
