The majority of dairy processors in NI have paid more for milk produced in June than they did for May milk.

Tirlán has paid a leading price in NI since last November and that trend has continued into June, with the co-op adding 0.8p/l to its base price, taking it to 31.7pl once a 0.5p sustainability payment is included.

In May, Tirlán also paid a 0.4p/l market support payment, which left its starting point at 31.3p/l, so the June price is effectively up 0.4p/l. The co-op has said it will leave that price unchanged into July and August, unless there are some “unforeseen events”.

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Elsewhere, Leprino added 1p/l, taking its base to 29.75p/l, while Omagh based Strathroy Dairy increased its price by 0.5p/l, leaving its base at 31p/l. Aurivo remained on a base of 31.5p/l.

Last week, NI’s largest milk processor, Lakeland Dairies confirmed it had left its base unchanged for June at 30.1p/l. However, the co-op has paid a ‘market support payment’ of 0.5p/l on all milk supplied over the first six months of the year. The 0.5p payment effectively takes the starting point for June milk to 30.6p/l.

Dale Farm is the only processor to pay less for June milk than it did in May, although the co-op is still placed towards the top-end of prices paid.

Last Wednesday the company confirmed it had reduced its 2p/l ‘market support’ from May to 1.5p/l for June supplies. That effectively took Dale Farm’s starting price for June milk from 32.3p/l to 31.8p/l.

The co-op has also set new butterfat and protein increments to apply from July to September 2026, with an increase in the value of protein, but a reduction in the value put on butterfat.

Every 0.01% change in butterfat will be valued at 0.032p/l, with each 0.01% change in protein valued at 0.067p/l. That compares to 0.037p and 0.061p increments at present.

We will have a full analysis of prices paid in our June milk league in next week’s edition.

Production

Meanwhile, the latest data published by DAERA shows NI dairy farmers produced record volumes of milk in the first four months of the year. To the end of April, NI milk output stood at 1.01bn litres, up 3.9% on the same period in 2025 and 12.5% higher than the 2024 equivalent.