Scotland has some of the best milk fields in the world thanks to its ideal climate, food farming practices, and investment in on-farm technology adoption and innovation. The Scottish dairy sector is diverse in its makeup, with farmers, producers, and processors—big and small—all having a critical role to play in the supply chain.
There are just under 800 dairy herds in Scotland producing milk of the highest quality, built around world-leading standards of animal health, welfare, and environmental protection.
The number of dairy cows in Scotland is 180,250, with an average herd size of 233, as reported by the Scottish Dairy Cattle Association in July 2024.
The Scottish dairy industry produces about 1.5 billion litres of milk a year of which roughly 40% supplies the liquid milk market and 40% is processed into cheese, with the remainder going into other dairy value-added products (butter, yogurt, cream and ice-cream).
The NFU Scotland Dairy Committee actively lobbies on all issues relevant to dairy farming and supports members throughout the dairy sector. If there are any issues you would like us to address or require support on, please do not hesitate to get in touch
Milk Contracts – Where are we now?
After more than a decade of campaigning by the NFU Scotland and other UK farming unions calling out unfair practices in the dairy supply chain, new legislation on dairy contracts has come into force.
It is hoped that the new regulations will establish transparency and accountability across the dairy supply chain by stopping contract changes being imposed without agreement.
There will also be a system in place to enable farmers to verify the calculation of variable prices.
The regulations also include an enforcement regime, which allow the Secretary of State to impose substantial financial penalties to entities who make any breaches.
There will be a transition period of 12 months for existing agreements. All such contracts will need to be compliant with the regulations by 9 July 2025.