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Strathroy tops the first milk league of 2023, paying 46.72p/l for milk collected on alternate days during January.
It is exactly two years since the Omagh-based processor last topped the milk league. Back then, Strathroy paid 29.78p/l, almost 17p/l below the most recent price analysis.
While there was an across-the-board cut to base prices last month, Strathroy was the only processor not to implement a 5p/l price correction.
Instead, it opted for 2p/l price cut, putting its suppliers on a starting price of 45.5p/l, to include a 1p/l winter bonus.
As a result, Strathroy has moved from bottom of the table in December to finish in first place for January.
Milk quality
The primary purpose of the NI milk league is to compare what each processor would pay a dairy farmer for a standardised litre of milk.
Milk quality is set monthly based on the NI average recorded by DAERA during the same month in the previous year.
For January 2023, our analysis is calculated at 4.14% butterfat, 3.28% protein, 4.78% lactose, 19 TBC and 186 SCC.
Changing positions
Behind Strathroy, Tirlán/Fivemiletown remains in second place.
However, two prices are now published for the Republic of Ireland-based processor, as Tirlán’s A+B-C hybrid payment came into effect last month.
Under the new model, which is set up to incentivise milk solids over litres, farmers have 50% of their supply paid on each kg of butterfat (A), protein (B) produced, with a deduction made for volume (C).
The remaining 50% of milk is paid under the conventional standard litre model, similar to other processors.
Based on January analysis, farmers on the hybrid model who produced milk at the NI average for butterfat and protein received an additional 0.34p/l more than those who decided to stick with the conventional payment system.
Elsewhere, Aurivo moves up one place to fourth spot. However, with winter bonus payments no longer applicable in January, Lakeland slips four places to fifth, with Dale Farm in sixth and Glanbia Cheese rounding out the table.
Milk solids
While the main league analysis is calculated on a standard litre, the reality is that milk solids vary across processors, and in January 2023 are considerably higher than that noted by DAERA in January 2022.
Figure 1 shows the average butterfat and protein values recorded by each processor during January, as well as an estimate of the final payout for the month to a 750,000 litre producer supplying each individual company.
Our calculation includes the average paid out per litre by Lakeland to suppliers under its five-year scheme to incentivise higher solids.
No allowance is made in the calculation for any difference in cell counts across processors.
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