In March, milk intake in Russia was 2.2 per cent lower than in the same month of 2025, according to figures from Italian analysis bureau CLAL.

Russian dairies continue to receive less milk for processing, as shown by CLAL’s monthly overview of Russian milk production, reported by Danish agricultural publication Landbrugsavisen.

The decline is steeper than in February, when intake was 0.4 per cent below the previous year’s level. In March, 2.73 billion kilograms of milk were collected, compared with 2.79 billion kilograms in March 2025. Cumulative intake for the first three months of the year stands at 7.55 billion kilograms.

According to Russian dairy industry organisation Soyuzmoloko, the decline is driven partly by sharply rising production costs, which have pushed up retail prices and dampened consumer demand. Russian farm businesses are also facing labour shortages and tighter monetary policy. The result, Soyuzmoloko says, is a market in which production is increasingly outpacing processing capacity.

By Maja Løvstrup
Photo: Nordwood Themes / Unsplash