Milk price indicator slips back below 49p/l

Demand for dairy commodities eased at last week’s GDT and Dutch Dairy Board auctions, resulting in a slight drop in the milk price indicator (MPI) published by the Ulster Farmers’ Union.

The MPI now stands at 48.73p/l, down 0.35p/l from the figure published in early April. It is just the second time that the MPI has recorded a price drop since the start of August 2021, with the other occasion in early January 2022.

At this week’s Dutch auction, butter fell by €70 to €7,170/t with skim milk powder down €40 to €4,120/t and whole milk powder back €70/t.

Despite this, dairy markets remain in an extremely strong position across Europe and the UK with butter, milk powder and cream running significantly higher year on year.

BPS entitlement deadline approaches

The deadline for transferring Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlements in NI is Tuesday 3 May 2022.

The sale or lease of entitlements to another farm business needs to be completed using the entitlement transfer system which is available on DAERA online services.

To avoid late penalties, the deadline for submitting single applications is 16 May and the last date for accepting applications this year is 9 June.

Farmer survey on rising input costs

Farmers in NI are being encouraged to complete an online survey about the impact of rising input costs.

The survey, which is being carried out by the UFU and AgriSearch, asks 20 multiple choice questions about fertiliser use and fodder production this season.

The anonymous survey is available here.