Most milk buyers in NI have now declared a price for milk delivered in September, and to date, all have held price at August levels.

That leaves Dale Farm out in front on a base price of 28.5p/litre for September, once the 0.3p/l loyalty bonus is added in. The other milk buyers have all held on a base of 27.5p/l, with Aurivo and LacPatrick yet to declare.

It means Dale Farm continues to lead on milk prices paid to farmers this year. The co-op also reports that its 2018-2019 milk production incentive scheme, which began in July, is proving effective in getting producers to increase production.

Milk supply during September was 8% higher at the co-op when compared to the same month last year.

With a bonus payment of 3p/l payable on the additional litres produced last month compared to the same month in 2017, Dale Farm has confirmed it was worth an additional 0.3p/l across all milk delivered in September.

New suppliers

The Irish Farmers Journal also understands that Dale Farm has taken on four new suppliers from LacPatrick as of 1 October.

Three suppliers are located in south Antrim, with the remaining farm in North Antrim. These farms had put in a notice to leave LacPatrick in the spring.

Reports also indicate that the co-op is currently working on developing a second fixed-price contract arrangement for suppliers, to be unveiled at the end of this month.

It is over a year since Dale Farm offered its first fixed-price contract to suppliers, guaranteeing a base price of 27p/l for a three-year period starting 1 January 2018.

Among other changes to milk pricing this month, Omagh-based Strathroy Dairies has decided to drop collection charges from September onwards for milk collected on alternate days.

Strathroy indicates that all suppliers should benefit from the change, as no supplier is currently on a daily lift.

This is a cost saving of £10 per collection to farmers, which for a 1m litre producer supplying 70,000l in September equates to approximately 0.2p/l.

Strathroy has also indicated that over 90% of its milk pool is now meeting Red Tractor standards, which is worth an additional 0.2p/l to suppliers.

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