Glanbia Ireland has finished on top of the NI milk for May, making it five consecutive months that the company has paid a leading price to local suppliers.

Across all processors, milk prices increased by 1.25p to 2p/l for May, which means that everyone is now paying a base above the 40p/l threshold.

Glanbia Ireland/Fivemiletown leads the pack with a base price of 42.9p/l. Once top-up payments and volume bonus are applied, Glanbia finishes on 44.33p/l for milk collected on alternate days.

Milk quality

With milk hitting peak supply in May, butterfat and protein are significantly lower than in previous months. The prices outlined for May are based on actual milk quality recorded by DAERA in the same month in 2021. Butterfat is 4.01%, with protein at 3.28%, lactose of 4.78%, TBC of 18 and SCC at 193.

As milk solids are lower month on month, this means that base price, volume bonuses and any relevant transport charges have a greater bearing on the final milk price for each processor.

Positions unchanged

Behind Glanbia, there has been no positional changes from the April milk league. This means Aurivo finishes runner up for the second month in a row, thanks to a 2p/l increase in base price which now stands at 42.25p/l.

Lakeland Dairies is unchanged in third place on 42.92p/l. The outlined price has not been adjusted for Lakeland’s top-up payments for higher fat and protein compared to a 2018 to 2020 reference year. Based on NI averages during that reference period, our calculations suggest the scheme would add approximately 0.2p/l to the price received by an average Lakeland producer in May 2022.

Dale Farm remains in fourth spot on 42.83p/l, although in reality, the co-op’s solids were higher than the NI average, and worth an additional 0.2p/l over the published price.

Glanbia Cheese sits in fifth place on 42.64p/l, while Strathroy finishes on 41.69p/l following a 2p/l increase in base price to 40.4p/l.

Rolling average

When comparing the rolling average milk price over the 12 month period ending May 2022, Glanbia Ireland leads for milk collected on daily and on alternate days.

For alternate day collection, Glanbia has paid a rolling average of 35.86p/l and has now held this top position for 24 consecutive months. Dale Farm remains in second place with Aurivo in third.

Moving to daily milk collections, Glanbia is out in front on 35.57p/l.

Again there are no positional changes across the rest of the table, with Aurivo in second and Glanbia Cheese third.

Read more

How much did the average farmer spend on inputs in 2021?

Only 10 new dairy farmers apply for Organic Farming Scheme