Despite being behind Dale Farm in our main milk league comparison, Tirlán/Fivemiletown is still out in front in our analysis of prices paid to 1m litre suppliers in NI for August milk (see Table B).

Those prices paid are calculated slightly differently to our 750,000l analysis, with both SCC and TBC kept consistent each month at 165 and 15 respectively.

We also publish prices paid across high, average and low solids milk, with the parameters (shown in Table 1 on the opposite page) adjusted each month based on the actual milk quality results notified to us by processors.

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In the case of Tirlán it pays bonuses of 1.15p/l for milk with SCC of 165 and TBC of 15, which compares to the 0.35p/l for the milk at SCC of 222 and TBC of 20 in our 750,000l analysis.

These additional bonuses help ensure it is ahead of Dale Farm in the 1m litre leagues.

Aurivo also pays significant bonuses for good milk hygiene, so is placed third across the tables.

Leprino Foods is in fourth as it pays a 0.65p/l volume bonus to 1m litre suppliers, while its 0.75p/l mozzarella bonus applies across all three milk qualities in the August 1m litre leagues.

In fifth, Strathroy paid from a higher base price of 32p/l, so it is ahead of Lakeland Dairies, leaving NI’s largest milk processor at the bottom of the 1m litre tables.

Rolling prices

The rolling 12-month prices paid to 1m litre suppliers are shown in Table C. There are no changes in the rankings for high and average solids milk when compared to the July league. However, for low solids milk, Leprino and Strathroy have moved up to join Lakeland in equal fourth place.

Those 12-month rolling prices continue to fall month-on-month, with another 0.45p/l coming off, given that prices of around 42p/l from August 2025 have dropped out of the 12-month calculation.