Just 0.02p/l separates the top three in the August 2025 Milk League, with Dale Farm just ahead of Tirlán/Fivemiletown and Lakeland Dairies in the final price paid to a 750,000l supplier.

August base prices dropped by 1p to 1.5p/l, leaving final prices paid at their lowest levels for approximately 12 months and below 40p/l in a couple of cases. The last time any NI processor had a final price under 40p was July 2024.

The August 2025 prices are calculated at NI average solids for the same month in 2024, when butterfat averaged 4.20%, protein was at 3.36%, with a TBC of 19 and a SCC of 205.

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August is one of the lowest production months of the year and with reduced litres, comes higher solids.

Both butterfat and protein are up significantly when compared to the July league (4.10% BF; 3.32% Prot), so adjustments for higher milk quality have a greater impact on the final price paid.

However, August is the only month of the year when SCC in our calculations is above 200 and this has also had an impact. All processors offer a bonus for SCC below 200, usually ranging from 0.2 to 0.3p/l.

In the case of Leprino, its bonus is 0.4p/l, while its 0.75p/l mozzarella payment is also conditional on SCC being below 200. With neither payment included in our final price and Leprino also paying from the lowest base of any processor in August, it has left the Mageralin-based company well off the pace set by others.

At the top of the table, Dale Farm is up from fourth last month to lead with a final price of 41.08p/l, mainly thanks to its Milk Production Realignment (MPR) scheme, which pays suppliers 4p/l for additional litres between August and January. The reference volume is based on the three-year average over the same months between 2021 and 2023.

NI milk output has increased significantly since then and that is reflected in the MPR payout, which was worth an average of 0.61p/l to Dale Farm suppliers in August 2025. In August 2024, the MPR scheme paid an average of 0.37p/l.

Tirlán and Lakeland Dairies remain in second and third, with Aurivo dropping from first to fourth having cut its base price by 1.5p and with a lower volume bonus also applying.

Rolling average

In the 12 months from September 2024 to August 2025, Tirlán has paid the highest average price to a 750,000l supplier of 44.77p/l.

The gap to second-placed Dale Farm has widened out slightly to 0.28p/l, with all other positions unchanged from last month

Payout

Shown in Figure 1 is an estimate of the payout made by each processor to a 750,000l supplier in August 2025. All parameters are the same as used in our main league analysis, except that we have used the actual butterfat and protein notified to us by each company in August 2025.

With higher solids milk than either Dale Farm or Lakeland, Tirlán leads with a payout of over £24,500. Aurivo also has good solids and is placed second.