Farmers will be anxiously watching the milk price setting that will happen next week for July milk.

The overall picture is still very positive. Yes, the GDT was down, but it’s coming off a big high and common enough for this time of the year.

Yes, the Ornua PPI was down a touch for base commodities this month when the Ornua premium is left out, but when we include the premium, it's up again for July to 36.6c/litre equivalent.

There is still a decent gap between the Ornua PPI and the price paid by the co-ops.

The global outlook still has a certain amount of uncertainty, but it nearly always has.

Market doubts

COVID re-emerging in Asia has cast some doubt on markets, but buying is still strong and food service in the US and Asia is almost back to where it was pre-COVID.

When you see France, Germany and the Netherlands down in terms of supply, you know Europe is not blowing the lights out on supply – they are the big players in Europe.

It is likely that global collections will expand by 1.5% this year, but the rate of growth should ease through the second half of the year.

The word on the ground from the experts is prices of commodities should stabilise and there is some potential for firming as buyers return from holidays.