The first Ornua purchasing price index (PPI) for 2016 has been set and is 8.9% lower than the same time in 2015.

The PPI for January 2016 is 85.7, which equates to a farmgate price of 24.2c/litre. The PPI for 2015 closed at 86.6, which represented a farmgate price of 24.6c/l.

IFA dairy committee chair Seán O’Leary has called on co-ops, banks and Teagasc to offer “joined-up cashflow support for dairy farmers”.

ICMSA dairy chair Gerald Quain has urged all co-ops to hold the January price.

“Milk suppliers are haemorrhaging money and are now facing into an indeterminate period of below-cost production. As regards January milk price, we’re looking at the volumes and, given the pressures suppliers are under, we are still stressing the need for co-ops to hold milk prices at current levels.”

The board of Lakeland will meet on Thursday (11 February) to set a January milk price. Others will set prices over the next fortnight. It is envisaged that there will not be much change in milk price for January.