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The final prices paid to 1m litre producers in February are just over 40p/l, but for the first time since April 2022, the average base price across all milk processors in NI fell below this threshold.
The cuts applied to February milk bring the average base to 39.2p/l across the board, down 4.1p/l on January and almost 10p/l below the average recorded back in December 2022.
Shown in Table B are the prices paid for milk supplied at high and average solids last month, with the criteria used in our calculations outlined in Table 1 on the opposite page.
High solids milk averaged 41.92p/l across all processors, down from 46.38p/l in January, with Strathroy out in front on 43.65p/l for milk collected on alternate days.
Tirlán/Fivemiletown is in second place. For high-solids milk, its A+B-C hybrid price of 43.33p/l is 0.64p/l higher than the equivalent value under its conventional payment option, worth an extra £520 on the monthly volume supplied.
Dale Farm climbs three places to finish third, with Glanbia Cheese moving up one spot to fourth. Lakeland also gains one place to finish fifth, whereas Aurivo drops three places to sixth.
Average milk solids
Moving to average solids milk, which is more reflective of the typical NI herd, prices across the board averaged 41.18p/l, down from 45.73p/l in January.
Strathroy is again out in front, paying 43.15p/l for milk collected on alternate days in February, followed by Tirlán in second place.
Despite paying the lowest base price, Glanbia Cheese is in third thanks to its 0.4p/l mozzarella bonus and 0.65p/l volume bonus.
Dale Farm is narrowly behind in fourth with Lakeland and Aurivo rounding out the table.
Rolling average milk price
Table C outlines the rolling average milk price for the 12-month period ending February 2023. All positions are unchanged from January 2023.
For both high and average solids milk, Tirlán continues to lead, followed by Lakeland Dairies in second.
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