July is the 12th month in a row that milk processors in Northern Ireland have raised their respective base prices.

The latest 2p/l increase brings the average starting price for July milk to 45.83p/l, which is 16.5p/l above the 29.32p/l recorded during the same month last year.

For a dairy farmer producing 1m litres annually and supplying 86,000l last month, the outlined increase is worth an additional £14,190 in direct milk sales.

But while milk price has been rising, higher input costs are absorbing a large percentage of the additional income being generated each month.

Monthly analysis

For a 1m litre producer, Table B outlines pricing for milk produced in July at three different qualities, which are presented in Table 1 on the opposite page.

On high solids milk, prices across all processors averaged 47.52p/l, up 1.7p/l on the previous month. Glanbia Ireland/Fivemiletown is out in front, paying 48.78p/l for milk collected on alternate days.

Aurivo moves up one place to finish second on 47.6p/l, overtaking Lakeland Dairies which slips to third spot.

There are no changes in the lower half of the table, as Glanbia Cheese remains in fourth spot, Dale Farm in fifth and Strathroy rounding out the table.

Average milk solids

Moving to milk with average solids, prices across all processors averaged 46.65p/l, up from 45.14p/l in June.

Glanbia Ireland remains out in front on 47.75p/l with similar positional changes for second and third places.

Aurivo climbs one spot to finish second on 46.78p/l, edging out Lakeland Dairies which slips to third place.

Glanbia Cheese remains in fourth spot, with Dale Farm in fifth and Strathroy at the foot of the table.

12 month rolling average

As milk prices have increased every month since last August, the rolling average prices continue on an upward trajectory.

Glanbia Ireland dominates across all three milk qualities, leading our analysis for high solids milk for 10 months in a row and the first processor to pay an average price above the 40p/l threshold.

For average solids, there are no positional changes, with Glanbia remaining out in front on 39.1p/l.

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