Lakeland increases base price for July

The board of Lakeland Dairies has increased the base price for NI suppliers by 0.8p for July, taking it to 30.9p/l.

In June, Lakeland paid from a base of 30.1p, although there was also a 0.5p “market support payment”, paid out on all milk over the first six months of the year.

Setting its July price, the co-op noted that the market for dairy commodities has “improved marginally” over the last month, with milk supply under pressure across Europe.

“If supply continues to slow, this will support a more positive market environment as the year progresses,” stated the co-op.

At the Dutch Dairy Board auction on Wednesday, commodity prices were all up by €40, leaving butter at €3,930/t, whole milk powder at €3,490/t and skim milk powder at €2,860/t. That skim price is the highest it has been since late May 2026, while the whole milk powder price is at its highest level since October 2025.

Jumpstart to top of Holstein bull rankings

Genosource Jumpstart P has come out in top of the latest rankings of genomic Holstein bulls in the UK. With a profitable lifetime index (PLI) of £919, Jumpstart is a son of Genosource King P who comes in at 12th place in the new rankings.

The latest bull run by AHDB has the OCD Fugleman Radical son, Genosource Judo, in second position on a PLI of £917.

Ranking third in the list of young Holstein bulls is Peak AltaSpinwin. The newly available son of AltaMakeover has a PLI of £907. In the daughter proven rankings, OCD Trooper Sheepster returns to the top spot on a PLI of £756. Genosource Captain (PLI £744) is in second position and Lars-Acres SSI GD Raiton (PLI £732) is in third place.

Slaughter numbers start to pick up

Last week’s total cattle kill in NI of 8,644 head was the highest weekly kill in NI since early June and 820 head more than the previous week.

In total, 6,641 prime cattle were slaughtered along with 1,715 cows. The increase was due to more prime cattle coming forward, with just 5,767 processed in the week ending 1 August.

There were also 8,284 sheep processed in NI, which was the largest weekly kill since mid-May.