Shown in Table B are the prices paid to 1m-litre suppliers for October across a range of different milk qualities, as outlined in Table 1 on the opposite page.

For high solids milk, prices across the board averaged 47.9p/l, up from 44.8p/l in September, due to increases in base price and winter bonuses payments from a number of processors.

Topping the table is Tirlán on 50.81p/l, making it the first time since December 2022 that the 50p/l threshold has been exceeded in our monthly analysis.

For the third month in a row, Dale Farm is second on 49.23p/l, while Leprino Foods moves up one place to third on 48.85p/l.

Aurivo also gains one place by finishing fourth, which means Lakeland Dairies has slipped from third to fifth. Strathroy finishes bottom of the table for the second month in a row. With no winter bonus in place, both Lakeland and Strathroy are well off the pace set by Tirlán and Dale Farm.

Average solids

For milk produced at average solids, Tirlán is top of the league table for the second month in a row, paying 49.36p/l. Leprino Foods climbs two places to second on 48.33p/l, mainly thanks to its 0.65p/l volume bonus and 0.4p/l mozzarella premium.

Dale Farm drops to third on 48.29p/l, while Aurivo also climbs two spots to fourth.

Rolling 12 months

The higher prices paid for October means that milk price has now increased in 11 of the last 12 months.

Those monthly increases are filtering through to the 12-month rolling league tables, with the prices across all three milk qualities in October rising by 1p to 1.2p/l when compared to the previous month. On high solids milk, Tirlán remains out in front on 41.99p/l with Dale Farm in second on 40.02p/l.

All remaining processors have a 12-month rolling price under 40p/l. Aurivo remains in third, with Leprino Foods and Lakeland both gaining one position to finish fourth and fifth respectively. Srathroy slips two places to sixth.

For average quality milk, the only positional change for October sees Leprino Foods overtake Strathroy for fourth. In our analysis of low solids milk, Dale Farm moves up from third to second.

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