The board of LacPatrick Dairies met on Friday and decided to keep September milk prices unchanged from August.

Farmers in the Republic of Ireland will receive a base price of 30.36c/l (excluding VAT) while those in Northern Ireland will receive a base of 27.5p/l.

The announcement comes after all major processors held their milk price for September in recent days.

Little movement was expected ahead of a crucial week for LacPatrick, as its shareholders and those of Lakeland Dairies are set to meet next Tuesday to decide on a proposed merger between the two co-ops. Lakeland was also among the processors to kept its price unchanged for September.