North Cork Creameries is changing the rules regarding who is eligible for 13th milk price payments.

In a letter to milk suppliers, CEO Pat Sheahan said that only suppliers who spend more than 6c/l with the co-op in 2025 will be eligible for any supplementary or top-up milk payment in 2026.

The move mirrors the plan by Dairygold Co-op to limit full top-ups or 13th payments to only suppliers that spend more than 6c/l with Dairygold, a measure now scrapped in the face of massive backlash and public meetings.

However, the plans by North Cork Creameries go further, because the letter states that anyone who doesn’t reach that 6c/l threshold won’t be eligible for any payment whereas Dairygold had planned to pay 50% of the top-up to those below that threshold.

The letter states that the decision was agreed by the board of North Cork and goes on to say that it “is a positive initiative designed to acknowledge and reward trade with your co-operative.”

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal on Tuesday, co-op chair Thomas O’Donoghue said that he hasn’t received any criticism of the plan since it was announced, stating that 85% to 90% of suppliers exceed the 6c/l spend threshold anyway.

He said the threshold has been reduced from 8c/l to 6c/l and that if farmers want to have the convenience of a local co-op shop, they must be willing to spend in it to keep it open.

For a typical supplier with 500,000 litres of milk annually, they would need to spend €30,000 with North Cork in order to qualify for any top-up payments to core milk price.