Dairy farmers who signed up to the most recent fixed price milk contract offered by Lakeland Dairies have been given the opportunity to increase the maximum percentage of milk pledged under the agreement from 10% to 20%.

The development comes after a lower than anticipated uptake from the co-op’s southern supply base. Uptake on the contract from Lakeland suppliers in NI is reported as being strong. But with an under-supply within the contracted milk pool, the company has offered NI suppliers who signed up to the contract the opportunity to increase their allocation by another 10%.

The current fixed price scheme guarantees Lakeland suppliers a base price of 26p/l from April to September and 28p/l from October to March. Normal top-ups on milk quality and volume apply thereafter, but the 3p/l winter bonus is excluded under the contract.