What's happened to the milk supply?

[HHTel]

I first noticed the shortage in Makro when I picked up the last bottle a few days ago. Since then it seems to have disappeared of the shelves. 7/11's haven't had any for several days.
Today I went on a hunt for milk (I have children in the house who drink a lot of milk).
I visited 8 x 7/11s, 2 x Big C's, G supermarket and 2 x Tesco expresses.

In one of the Bic C's I spotted 3 bottles pushed to the back of the shelf. When I tried to retrieve them I was told "I'm sorry, they have been ordered". They pointed out that they'd had a delivery half an hour previously and they'd gone in 10 mins.

Does anyone know the reason there's such a shortage?

Just done a quick search and there's quite a long thread bearing the same complaints on Thaivisa. It seems to be nationwide but no answer to the problem:

[Big Boy]

I don't know the reason, but the shortage has been for over a week now.

My DIL has just been down to our local 7-11, and has picked up 2 big bottles. She says they had plenty.

[HHTel]

Wow. I'm betting they'll all be gone now. All about timing.

In fact I visited your 7/11 around 6pm. None. And the Big C near you was were they said their delivery was sold in 10 mins leaving 3 bottles that had already been ordered.

[hhinner]

Wow. I'm betting they'll all be gone now. All about timing.

In fact I visited your 7/11 around 6pm. None. And the Big C near you was were they said their delivery was sold in 10 mins leaving 3 bottles that had already been ordered.

Tons in Makro this morning, as usual.

[PET]

I understand that it is no longer profitable to be a milk farmer and many have killed off their cattle. So this is not something which will revert as before we can expect prolonged shortages

[HHTel]

Wow. I'm betting they'll all be gone now. All about timing.

In fact I visited your 7/11 around 6pm. None. And the Big C near you was were they said their delivery was sold in 10 mins leaving 3 bottles that had already been ordered.

Tons in Makro this morning, as usual.

That certainly wasn't the case a few days ago in Makro. The shelves were empty. Something I'd never seen before.

A quick look at a few 7/11s this afternoon still had empty shelves.

[HHTel]

BANGKOK, July 25 (TNA) – The quantity of raw milk across the country has currently decreased from the average of the previous year by 400 tons per day as farmers enter milking break and reduce livestock rearing, said the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Livestock Development.

The decline is attributed to the milking break period before cows give birth following the normal rearing cycle. Additionally, some farmers have suspended rearing due to the high costs of livestock feed ingredients.

The department is expediting efforts to expand and promote the use of animal feed that helps reduce production costs, with the expectation that the volume of raw milk will gradually increase to meet the demand, in line with the milk production cycle.

Prapas Phinyocheep, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Livestock Development said that the current volume of raw milk throughout the country is lower than the average. In 2022, the average daily raw milk was approximately 3,500 tons. In 2023, the average daily raw milk in May was about 2,900 tons, which represents a decrease of 400 tons per day or 12% compared to the average of May in the previous year at 3,300 tons per day.

Most cows are nearing calving from June to September, prompting farmers to take a milking break. Moreover, some farmers have paused rearing or reduced the number of cows due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and high livestock feed prices, leading to increased milk production costs.

To address the problem, the department has implemented projects to support small-scale dairy farmers in reducing the cost of animal feed, which accounts for 60-70% of the total production cost by encouraging farmers to grow roughage such as grass as feed instead of purchasing processed feed.

The department has set a target of 50,000 rai (20,000 acres) nationwide for growing grass and is currently supporting farmers with grass seeds. As of now, 27,000 rai (10,800 acres) have been cultivated, but it was hit by drought at the beginning of this year. The efforts are currently underway to meet the project’s target.

Another project is the promotion of Dry TMR (Total Mixed Ration) feed, which is a complete mixed feed produced by blending roughage and concentrated feed in appropriate proportions.

The department has tested this in ten provinces across all regions and found that it reduces production costs by 3 baht per kilogram of milk, or approximately 10% and will expand the project to reach more farmers.

https://tna.mcot.net/english-news-1212870

[bigston]

Today at 3 pm
Makro Pranburi - Chockers
Lotus Pranburi - Zip

[Big Boy]

I'm assuming that as HHTel went to my local 7-11 yesterday evening and there was nothing, yet my DIL went a couple of hours later and there was plenty; plus Makro was well stocked this morning that there must have been a delivery late yesterday evening. It will probably be plentiful until it runs out again.

[Dannie Boy]

I’m still surprised at the claim that Thai farmers are pulling out of milk production because they’re losing money - 2l of milk in Thailand is at least 90 Baht, in the UK, 4 pts of milk (2.27l) is £1.45, the equivalent of 64 Baht?

[Big Boy]

Yes, but same old story - how much of that 90฿ goes to the farmer?

[Scout]

There were a few 2 liter bottles of milk at Lotus’s MV yesterday, along with a sign in Thai. Per google translate the sign said “ himself with the situation Raw milk is in constant shortage and dairy cows are entering a milking break. This caused the number of pasteurized fresh milk products to be limited. in order to allocate enough products for all customers Bo reserves the right to purchase Meiji plain taste 2 friendly size, not more than 2 gallons/receipt.”

[buksida]

There were only a couple of 1 liter bottles in our local 7-11 and no full-fat milk.

You all know the answer ... milk prices double.

[GroveHillWanderer]

According to the sign in BlúPort last week, there's a shortage of some brands due to "dry cow" season.

Hadn't heard of that before so I looked it up.

"The dry period allows mammary tissue to recover and repair, and for cows that have been treated with antibiotic dry cow treatment (DCT), a chance to cure existing infections.

A minimum of six weeks (and preferably eight weeks) is recommended between drying off and calving for regeneration of udder tissue."

https://www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/cow-he ... ry-period/

Further, as mentioned in another article, "Research has found that if no dry period is provided for a cow, she will produce 25 to 30% less milk the next lactation."

https://afs.ca.uky.edu/content/dairy-dr ... -dairy-cow

[hhinner]

^^ So they do all the cows (or most of them) at the same time?