There was a significant reshuffling in the order of the Irish Farmers Journal milk league for March, with the four west Cork co-ops now back on top and occupying division one all to themselves.
Lakeland Dairies was in top spot for February milk, but now finds itself at the bottom of the league for March. This is mostly due to the fact that Lakeland, like Tirlán and Dairygold, pays a hefty bonus for milk in the winter months, which ends after February.
However, the big surprise is not so much that Lakeland is at the bottom, it’s that North Cork Creameries is not. The Kanturk-based co-op has had a Lazarus-like recovery in milk price, going from €4.67/kg MS in February to €5.007/kg MS in March. It means the co-op has gone from the bottom of the league to the middle of division two. The price is behind Kerry Dairy Ireland and Boherbue.
It’s a big turnaround for North Cork and a reflection of the new milk processing deal the co-op has with Carbery. The North Cork price is still a good bit behind the Carbery price. It seems that the difference is down to the fact that the Carbery price for North Cork doesn’t include the sustainability, SCC payments or the stability fund payments.
Almost all of the co-ops have increased their base prices for the month of March but for co-ops that were paying an out of season bonus, suppliers will see a reduction in their net price per kilo of milk solids.
Carbery, Aurivo and Boherbue all say they are supporting milk price through their stability fund. This is money retained in previous years to be paid out in bad years. Speaking recently on the Inside Dairy podcast, Tirlán CEO Sean Molloy said it too was supporting milk price during the peak months by paying ahead of the market returns.
Given how low milk prices are now, it begs the question where would prices be at if co-ops weren’t supporting the market? Bear in mind that for March 2025, average milk price was €6.72/kg MS excluding VAT, which is a base price of 48.11c/l excluding VAT.
Today’s price is over 24% lower, which is an enormous reduction given where margins in the sector are at.
The latest Ornua PPI for April shows that indicative base milk price is 38.96c/l excluding VAT, but including the Ornua value payment. While this is the April price and the league is based on March, it does show a fair gulf between the current base price and the PPI.
There was a significant reshuffling in the order of the Irish Farmers Journal milk league for March, with the four west Cork co-ops now back on top and occupying division one all to themselves.
Lakeland Dairies was in top spot for February milk, but now finds itself at the bottom of the league for March. This is mostly due to the fact that Lakeland, like Tirlán and Dairygold, pays a hefty bonus for milk in the winter months, which ends after February.
However, the big surprise is not so much that Lakeland is at the bottom, it’s that North Cork Creameries is not. The Kanturk-based co-op has had a Lazarus-like recovery in milk price, going from €4.67/kg MS in February to €5.007/kg MS in March. It means the co-op has gone from the bottom of the league to the middle of division two. The price is behind Kerry Dairy Ireland and Boherbue.
It’s a big turnaround for North Cork and a reflection of the new milk processing deal the co-op has with Carbery. The North Cork price is still a good bit behind the Carbery price. It seems that the difference is down to the fact that the Carbery price for North Cork doesn’t include the sustainability, SCC payments or the stability fund payments.
Almost all of the co-ops have increased their base prices for the month of March but for co-ops that were paying an out of season bonus, suppliers will see a reduction in their net price per kilo of milk solids.
Carbery, Aurivo and Boherbue all say they are supporting milk price through their stability fund. This is money retained in previous years to be paid out in bad years. Speaking recently on the Inside Dairy podcast, Tirlán CEO Sean Molloy said it too was supporting milk price during the peak months by paying ahead of the market returns.
Given how low milk prices are now, it begs the question where would prices be at if co-ops weren’t supporting the market? Bear in mind that for March 2025, average milk price was €6.72/kg MS excluding VAT, which is a base price of 48.11c/l excluding VAT.
Today’s price is over 24% lower, which is an enormous reduction given where margins in the sector are at.
The latest Ornua PPI for April shows that indicative base milk price is 38.96c/l excluding VAT, but including the Ornua value payment. While this is the April price and the league is based on March, it does show a fair gulf between the current base price and the PPI.
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