The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) has reinstated its milk price indicator (MPI) over two years, after stopping its publication over concerns that it was leading the market down.

The MPI is currently at 29.12p/l, which is down slightly from the last three months when it consistently stood at over 30p/l. Since the turn of the year, production has risen and prices for some commodities, such as butter, have fallen back.

The UFU MPI is a hybrid of the industry-recognised AMPE (actual milk price equivalent) and the MCVE (milk for cheese value equivalent) calculations.

However, it does not include transport charges and does not factor in a processor margin.

Most dairy companies in NI paid from a base of 25p/l to 26p/l for milk supplied in January 2017.

For a full analysis on actual prices paid, see our monthly milk league in next week’s Irish Farmers Journal.

Full coverage: milk prices

UFU milk price indicator at 29.12p/l

The first MPI figure published in over two years is currently at 29.12p/l.