Lakeland Dairies has chopped a further 4c/l off its milk price for March supplies. It is the first of Ireland’s main dairy processors to set its price for last month’s milk.
The board of the co-op has announced that it will pay farmer suppliers 40.81c/l excluding VAT for milk at 3.6% fat and 3.3% protein.
This is down from the 44.61c/l excluding VAT that Lakelands paid farmers for their February supplies.
A spokesperson for the co-op said its board cut the price paid to farmers for their milk as “global dairy market conditions continue to disimprove”.
The March milk price includes an input support payment of 1.5c/l for all suppliers.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, Lakeland Dairies has reduced its milk price for March supplies by 3.5p/l to 35p/l. This March price also includes a supplementary input support payment of 1.5p/l.
“Volatile economic conditions, diminished consumer confidence and reductions in demand from dairy buyers are yielding consistently lower market returns, while global dairy supplies continue to run ahead of these reduced demand levels.
“This has necessitated an ongoing correction in milk prices pending any return to more balanced supply and demand conditions,” the Lakeland Dairies spokesperson said.
They said the co-op is seeking to implement any such adjustments arising from this market correction as sustainably as possible in the full understanding that milk producers are operating in a high-cost environment.
“The co-operative’s intention remains at all times to pay as high a milk price as possible in line with currently unpredictable market conditions.”