Dairygold Co-op has climbed almost every rung of the milk league ladder to reach the top for January 2026.
The co-op is paying out a hefty January bonus of 86c excluding VAT for every kilo of milk solids produced in the month.
Tirlán and Centenary are offering the same amount for January, while the four co-ops supplying Carbery, as well as Lakeland Dairies, are offering a smaller input support.
Dairygold has changed the terms and conditions of its Grassroots sustainability scheme, with protected urea purchases from the co-op no longer a requirement in order to get the full payment. As a result, the full Grassroots payment is now included in the Dairygold price.
The other big change in the milk league for 2026 is around paying for bonuses and top-ups on an A+B-C basis. If these payments are not made on a solids-plus basis, then they won’t be included in the league. This affects SCC, sustainability and out-of-season payments. Most of the co-ops have since made these changes to their payment structure, or are about to.
There’s no doubt that the out-of-season payments are skewing the figures for the January league. The January milk price makes little or no difference to the vast majority of spring-calving dairy farmers because they don’t supply any milk in the month. Strip away the bonuses and base price has remained the same for most co-ops. Tirlán committed to keeping base price the same for February supplies also. Looking at where markets are at currently, it seems that’s about right.
There was concern that base price would fall further as we head into spring, but butter prices are almost €500/t higher now than they were at the end of January. Skim milk powder is over €500/t or 20% higher than it was at the end of December. Cheese and whole milk powder have also increased, but not by as much.
These price increases weren’t expected and have come as a surprise given the market fundamentals haven’t really changed. Milk flows in the US, Europe and New Zealand have continued to be strong, yet market prices have increased. What impact the conflict in the Middle East will have on prices remains to be seen.
With Dairygold and Tirlán and in division one, the four west Cork co-ops are relegated to division two, where they are joined by Aurivo, Arratipp and Kerry Dairy Ireland. This means that Boherbue, Lakeland and North Cork are in division three for January, with North Cork a good bit behind the other two.
Dairygold Co-op has climbed almost every rung of the milk league ladder to reach the top for January 2026.
The co-op is paying out a hefty January bonus of 86c excluding VAT for every kilo of milk solids produced in the month.
Tirlán and Centenary are offering the same amount for January, while the four co-ops supplying Carbery, as well as Lakeland Dairies, are offering a smaller input support.
Dairygold has changed the terms and conditions of its Grassroots sustainability scheme, with protected urea purchases from the co-op no longer a requirement in order to get the full payment. As a result, the full Grassroots payment is now included in the Dairygold price.
The other big change in the milk league for 2026 is around paying for bonuses and top-ups on an A+B-C basis. If these payments are not made on a solids-plus basis, then they won’t be included in the league. This affects SCC, sustainability and out-of-season payments. Most of the co-ops have since made these changes to their payment structure, or are about to.
There’s no doubt that the out-of-season payments are skewing the figures for the January league. The January milk price makes little or no difference to the vast majority of spring-calving dairy farmers because they don’t supply any milk in the month. Strip away the bonuses and base price has remained the same for most co-ops. Tirlán committed to keeping base price the same for February supplies also. Looking at where markets are at currently, it seems that’s about right.
There was concern that base price would fall further as we head into spring, but butter prices are almost €500/t higher now than they were at the end of January. Skim milk powder is over €500/t or 20% higher than it was at the end of December. Cheese and whole milk powder have also increased, but not by as much.
These price increases weren’t expected and have come as a surprise given the market fundamentals haven’t really changed. Milk flows in the US, Europe and New Zealand have continued to be strong, yet market prices have increased. What impact the conflict in the Middle East will have on prices remains to be seen.
With Dairygold and Tirlán and in division one, the four west Cork co-ops are relegated to division two, where they are joined by Aurivo, Arratipp and Kerry Dairy Ireland. This means that Boherbue, Lakeland and North Cork are in division three for January, with North Cork a good bit behind the other two.
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