January milk prices hold at Tirlán as co-op to fill VAT gap

Tirlán’s board has confirmed that it will hold January’s base milk price at December levels and that this will be the case for next month’s base milk price, as had been previously announced by the co-op.

This will leave suppliers receiving a 33.95c/l ex-VAT January base price at standard constituents from the co-op in addition to a 0.48c/l ex-VAT sustainability action payment.

A 6.70c/l ex-VAT seasonality payment is on the way for creamery milk volumes received in January that meet quality criteria, as well as non-contracted volumes from autumn-calving and liquid milk contract holders.

All payments listed above will be adjusted to reflect delivered solids, which the co-op has said will see an average January price of 50.10c/l paid in the cheques for last month’s milk.

The Tirlán board has also reaffirmed its intention to pay out a 4.78c/l ex VAT seasonality bonus on February milk.

Rebates

Budget 2026’s reduction in flat-rate VAT rebates from 5.1% last year to 4.5% this year will bear no impact on the overall price received for Tirlán suppliers in milk cheques.

The co-op has decided to fill the 0.21c/l gap “in the short term”, meaning that the change will not be reflected in milk pricing until March milk cheques onwards.

“We are pleased to be in a position to confirm our January milk price as announced last month,” Tirlán chair John Murphy commented.

“Farmers welcomed the certainty provided by a price commitment across the three-month period of December to February.

“There has been some welcome stability in the markets, which is a positive development. The board will continue to monitor market developments on a monthly basis.”