A February calving bonus paid to all suppliers pushed western-based processor Aurivo to the top of the February milk league. The bonus is paid on all February milk supplied.

Closely following Aurivo are Arrabawn and the west Cork co-ops, which continue to stay ahead of the rest. It is fair to say there is not much between many of the co-ops in division one.

Arrabawn has been near the top of the league for a number of months now. The four west Cork co-ops complete the division 1 lineup, paying close to €4.17/kg of milk solids in February. On top of the strong milk league price, the four co-ops in the Carbery group pay a bonus of 0.88c/litre for milk with an somatic cell count (SCC) of below 200,000 – this is not included in the milk league ranking because it’s not paid to everyone.

Conditional bonuses are not included in the monthly milk league but the west Cork co-ops would get the benefit of any money paid out on this to farmers in the KMPG-Irish Farmers Journal annual milk price review.

The Irish Farmers Journal milk league ranks processors on the price paid for a kilogramme of milk solids, using the average milk fat and protein for last year (3.99% fat and 3.43% protein) in the calculations. For a typical supplier, the impact of the milk league price gaps on February receipts is shown in Figure 1.

The February milk league is based on milk with a SCC of 300,000 and TBC of 50,000. From 1 April, the milk league will move to a base SCC of 250,000. Conditional bonus payments (not paid to all suppliers) are excluded in the main milk league ranking, although they are shown in the column to the right of the main table and included in Figure 2.

Correction – Town of Monaghan top January league

There was an error in the Town of Monaghan price quoted in the Irish Farmers Journal milk league for January. A bonus payment of 1.6c was referred to in the text of the article. This bonus was unconditional and was paid on all milk (up to the supplier’s milk quota). Accordingly, it should have been included in the milk league price, but was not.

The inclusion of the bonus increases Monaghan’s January price from 3.99c to 4.415c per kg of milk solids. Instead of sitting in division 3 of the January league, Town of Monaghan should in fact have been ranked at the top of the league. Our apologies for the error. - POK