NI farmers produced 160m litres of milk in September, 5.5% more than in 2016. This continues the increased supply observed since July, with production now in line with the 2015 surge that followed the abolition of quotas.

From January to September NI milk supply totalled 1.76bn litres, 2.8% more than during the first nine months of last year.

The average farmgate price paid to farmers (including retrospective bonuses) was 31.02p/l, nearly 10% higher than in September 2016. Since the start of the year, the average NI milk price has been 8.8% higher than in 2016.

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