After five years of a preparatory increase in their level (‘soft landing’ ), milk quotas disappeared on 1 April 2015 [1]. Extreme changes reported from one year to another are rare in the agricultural sector. However, growth in milk production between 2014 and 2015, the year when milk quotas disappeared, resulted from several factors combined: growth of the most productive dairy herds, contraction of the less productive ones, and contrasted national dynamics.In EU-28, production of raw cows’ milk increased slightly (+0.8 %), the price of farm milk fell and the number of dairy cows remained stable (+0.2 %). Nevertheless, at national level, the dairy herd grew strongly in few countries (+9.9 % in Ireland and +6.6 % in the Netherlands) while it contracted in 18 Member States. Belgium, Denmark and the United Kingdom showed similar, but less marked, growths.Cows' milk production followed the national herd trends (+14 % in Ireland and +5.3 % in the Netherlands). In many countries, the contractions in herd were compensated by an increase in productivity[2]. Production decreased in only seven Member States. The increase in cow milk productivity was the most spectacular in Greece, where the decrease by 18 % in the dairy cow herd did not impact on milk production, although it concerned a small herd.The apparent milk yield per dairy cow increased by 1.5 % in EU-28 from 2014 to 2015, almost reaching 6 900 kg per dairy cow. In the Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary and Poland, the apparent milk yield grew by 320 to 420 kg per head, reflecting also development of the most productive farms and the ending of milking activity in the less productive ones, with various national balances.http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Milk_and_milk_product_statistics