After months of higher costs and lower production, the April milk cheque helps to bring much-needed cash boost into the business to meet ongoing costs. While the April milk cheque is much lower for Greenfield (€50,400 this year versus €73,000 in 2017) it will definitely help to go some way to meet the extra feed costs of 2018.

The majority of the April milk cheque is made up of the manufacturing price and the fixed prices that the farm is tied into. There are other bits and pieces like bonuses for solids and co-op top-ups, etc. The farm only gets one-third of the co-op top-up as only one-third of the farm shareholders are shared up so it’s not a big income stream for this farm.

The April manufacturing price came in at 30.6c/l compared to 33.7c/l for the same period last year. The farm is in four fixed milk price schemes and the average of those schemes is 32.2c/l so they are helping boost the slightly lower manufacturing price.

So in summary, the April milk value was about €50,700 including VAT. Then €1,700 came off that in deductions (€1,200 of a 2017 fixed milk price adjustment). This was then adjusted upwards by €1,340 with the March and April milk solids bonuses and the chunk of the co-op bonus. Bottom line, the May cheque is €50,429.

Grazing conditions remain nearly perfect at Greenfield Kilkenny (see report in the Irish Farmers Journal this week). Milk solids produced continues to increase and the latest collection docket shows the milk solids at 1.8kg milk solids/cow (21 litres at 4.54% fat and 3.79% protein and 4.77% lactose). The diet is grazed grass only with mins and vits through the water.

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