The Dale Farm board has decided to increase the value it will put on butterfat and protein from 1 April 2025.

At present, suppliers are paid from a butterfat base of 3.95% and a protein base of 3.24%.

Every 0.01% change in butterfat and protein is valued at 0.031p/l and 0.048p/l respectively. The value of fat and protein in milk is therefore currently valued by Dale Farm at 27.79p/l.

Back in September 2024, the co-op had indicated that from 1 April 2025, it would increase its butterfat payment to 0.038p/l and its protein payment to 0.062p/l, effectively taking the value of these constituents to 35.1p/l. These payment increments were to be reviewed on an annual basis.

However, with the value of milk components continuing to rise and with a new cheese plant at Dunmanbridge better able to extract the value of milk, the co-op has revised the changes planned for 1 April and instead butterfat will be valued at 0.041p/l, with protein at 0.067p/l.

That puts the value of fat and protein at 37.9p/l. Base levels will stay the same.

The value put on each increment will now be reviewed quarterly. If the new payment increments (from 1 April 2025) had applied in our January milk league, calculated at the NI average of 4.27% butterfat and 3.29% protein, it would have added 0.38p/l onto the Dale Farm price.

In other words, members with solids above base levels set by Dale Farm will gain from the new pricing increments, however, those with low solids, will be worse off.