All prices recorded in both our monthly and rolling average leagues for 1m litre producers of either good quality or average quality milk are now over 30p/l.

The increase applied to September base prices means the average starting price for the month across all processors rose by 0.76p to 30.27p/l.

It is the highest monthly average base price recorded in NI since May 2014, outside of the last three months of 2017 when winter bonuses inflated the averages.

As September is the month when monthly milk production reaches its lowest level for the year, premiums on milk quality have a major bearing on the price actually paid.

All prices as shown in Table B are calculated on the basis of alternate day collection with the differing milk qualities outlined in Table 1 on the opposite page.

For good quality milk, the average across all processors is 33.41p/l, an increase of 1.5p/l on August and 1.8p/l higher than when milk was at peak production in May.

Glanbia Ireland/Fivemiletown remains out in front for the sixth consecutive month, paying 34.03p/l. Dale Farm moves up one place to finish third on 33.39p/l, overtaking Lakeland Dairies which slips to fourth.

Average quality

For average quality milk, base prices across all processors averaged 32.4p/l for September, a 1.45p/l increase on August.

Glanbia Ireland continues to dominate this analysis, finishing first on 32.95p/l. Dale Farm climbs into third with Glanbia Cheese slipping to fourth. Other places are unchanged from last month.

Rolling average

Table C outlines the rolling average milk price for a 1m litre producer over the 12-month period ending September 2021.

During this period, milk price increased in seven of the 12 months and with the average base price running 4p/l ahead of last autumn, the prices in Table C continue to rise month on month.

For good quality milk, Lakeland Dairies remains in first place, but the gap to second-placed Glanbia Ireland has halved to just 0.02p/l.

On average quality milk, Glanbia Ireland has now topped the table for 22 months in a row, with a rolling price now at 30.82p/l, up 0.3p/l increase on the previous month.

All remaining positions are unchanged with 0.8p/l separating top and bottom.

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