The largest processor of NI milk, Lakeland Dairies, is out in front in our September Milk League with a final price of 40.13p/l.

It is the first time this year that the co-op has led our monthly analysis of prices, with Lakeland edging ahead of its rivals after finishing a close third last month.

Prices in the September league are calculated for a producer with an annual output of 750,000l, using the average milk quality recorded by DAERA during the same month in 2024. It means that butterfat is at 4.34%, with protein at 3.46%, SCC of 197 and TBC of 20.

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Milk solids are up significantly when compared to August (4.20% butterfat and 3.36% protein), so the various payment models to incentivise milk solids have a greater impact on the final prices paid.

In addition, SCC was at 205 in our August calculations which falls within base parameters for all processors. However, at the September SCC of 197, bonuses apply, ranging from 0.2 to 0.4p/l.

It is also important to note that September is a trough month for NI milk output, with just 7% of total annual volume normally produced in that month. For the likes of Dale Farm, which still implements a collection charge, there are fewer litres to spread this across in September. In our current league, milk collection cost a 750,000l Dale Farm supplier 0.49p/l compared to 0.37p in the peak month of May.

Base prices

With commodity markets heading downwards, all NI processors cut their base prices for September milk by 2.5p/l, with the exception of Leprino Foods, which applied a 2.25p cut.

That has helped Leprino move off the bottom of the table and up to fourth, although the main contributing factor is the inclusion of the 0.75p/l mozzarella bonus. It applies at the milk qualities used in September, but not in August when SCC used in our calculations was over 200.

At the top of the table, just 0.02p separated the top three in August, with Dale Farm ahead of Tirlán and Lakeland. While all three applied the same price cut, Dale Farm has dropped to third mainly because it has a lower bonus for SCC below 200 and because of its milk collection charge.

Lakeland is up from third to first mainly thanks to a 50% increase in its volume bonus. That increase applies from September through to December.

At the other end of the table, Strathroy has dropped to bottom and its price is over 2p behind table-topping Lakeland. Compared to others, Strathroy’s traditional payment model does not incentivise high-solids milk, so when solids are high its price tends to fall further. The Omagh company does offer suppliers the option of an A+B-C payment system, if desired.

Rolling price

Also shown alongside our main Milk League analysis is the rolling average price paid to a 750,000l producer by each processor from October 2024 to September 2025.

There are no positional changes compared to last month, with Tirlán still out in front, ahead of Dale Farm.

Price paid

Shown in Figure 1 is an estimate of the actual payout made to a 750,000l producer in September based on actual butterfat and protein percentages recorded by each processor.

Despite leading in our main analysis, Lakeland is in fourth as Tirlán, Dale Farm and Aurivo all have higher solids milk.