The United States milk price (Class 111) heads the international milk league for the month of March with a price of 37c/l.

Nordic processors Valio in Finland and Arla in Denmark tie for second place, with a price of 35.5c/l.

After that the other large European processor FrieslandCampinas follow in third place with 35.3c/. Danone (France) and Fonterra (New Zealand) complete the top five for March with prices of 33c/l and 32.4c/l respectively.

Irish prices for Dairygold, Kerry and Glanbia are also considered for the international league table and they come in at a price between 31.9c/l and 31.3c/l about 4c/l behind the main European processors, 1c/l behind New Zealand and up to almost 6c/l behind the US Class 111 price.

Note: prices quoted are LTO prices for the Irish Farmers Journal standardised milk price calculation for March 2017 deliveries at Irish solids for greater than 500,000kg per year, TBC 24,999 and SCC 249,000 cells/ml.

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Milk prices paid to Irish farmers lag significantly behind global competitors.