Kerry and Glanbia both held their August milk price this week.

Lakeland Dairies, which has been leading the processors on milk price for much of the year, actually increased milk price further by 0.5c/l for August.

The holding position of the big two means the gap between what Ornua is getting from the market and the average co-op base price paid out to farmers remains close to 3c/l.

The August base milk prices we know so far put the Lakeland base price at 34.6c/l, Glanbia at 33.8c/l and Kerry – which had a July 1c/l bonus – at 33.1c/l. The rest of the co-ops will meet in the coming days to set August price.

The board of Ornua met last week as news broke that Dairygold was taking on Kerrygold in the US market

Returns from Ornua to member co-ops seems to be one of the core issues in the row between Dairygold and Ornua over the introduction of a new cheese brand to the US market.

The board of Ornua met last week as news broke that Dairygold was taking on Kerrygold in the US market.

The governance restructuring at Ornua seems to have made some member organisations unhappy

Following on from the previous Glanbia move to introduce the Truly Grass Fed brand in the US, there have been some calls for new rules or even sanctions for member organisations trading against Kerrygold.

The governance restructuring at Ornua seems to have made some member organisations unhappy.

Previously, the chairs and CEOs of the co-ops sat at the Ornua table but they now play an advisory council role and this relatively new Ornua council also met last week.