Tirlán offers meal rebate in bid to avoid 'sharp drop in milk output'

Tirlán is offering its milk suppliers rebates on meal and cereals over the next three weeks in an attempt to shore up milk supplies as dry weather takes its toll on grass growth rates in parts of the co-op’s catchment area.

The support will also be available to “non-Tirlán suppliers who are active GAIN dairy feed customers of Tirlán”.

The co-op has reported that recent weather conditions have hampered farmers’ attempts to build grass covers for the autumn and forced some suppliers to feed out silage.

The rebate offered by Tirlán will see farmers getting back €30/t of GAIN dairy feed bought, €10/t back on Irish rolled cereals and €3/t on cereal straights.

Support from the co-op comes after its latest supplier grass availability survey found that nine in every 10 suppliers are reporting a drop in average farm cover or difficulty in building grass reserves on their farms.

Tirlán’s chief agri officer Ailish Byrne stated that the rebate is designed to “help suppliers avoid a sharp drop in milk output for this time of year, build grass reserves for the autumn and conserve winter feed stocks”.

“Our teams are actively assisting suppliers with grass budgeting and providing nutritional advice to enhance cow performance and health,” Byrne commented.

“Through engaging with and listening to our dairy farmers, it’s clear there is a requirement to assist our family farms during this period.”

Ts and Cs

The entire GAIN dairy compound and coarse meal feed range will qualify for the rebate, as well as straights and Irish rolled cereals at the lower rebate rate.

A minimum of 3t must be purchased to claim the rebate, which will be credited to qualifying suppliers’ October trading statements.

Qualifying feed will be that delivered between Sunday 24 August and Saturday 13 September.

Individual suppliers will be subject to a reasonable usage limit and the co-op’s overall support will be capped at 23,000t.

The support will cease if this cooperative-wide cap is used up before 13 September.

Non-suppliers who are considered “active GAIN dairy feed customers” are those who have purchased a minimum of 3t Tirlán trading account in the 12 months of 2024 or up in the year-to-date up to 1 August 2025.