Tirlán has announced that it will hold its base milk price at 35.00c/l ex VAT for March, April and May “subject to any unforeseen events”.

While the co-op announced a 0.96c/l ex VAT increase for March over February’s base milk price, the milk cheque landing with suppliers over the following days will be the first of this year to include no seasonality top up.

A solids-adjusted sustainability action payment of 0.48c/l will also be paid out to qualifying suppliers.

ADVERTISEMENT

The average supplier milk price at delivered constituents will come to 39.69c/l ex VAT for March supplies.

Tirlán has said that its three-month price commitment is aimed at providing “greater certainty and market visibility for Tirlán milk suppliers as they move into the peak milk supply period, against a backdrop of continued pressure from challenging farm input costs”.

The co-op said that current market returns are below its three-month milk price but that Tirlán’s board “has taken a decision to set a milk price ahead of the market”.

“We are very conscious of the ongoing cost pressures facing our milk suppliers and of the need for greater certainty as we approach peak production,” Tirlán chairperson John Murphy said.

“As a farmer owned co-operative, milk suppliers can be assured that our team will continue to focus on maximising returns from the marketplace and any improvements in returns will ultimately be returned to our farmers.”

Tirlán also announced this week that the co-op is to absorb the blow of 2026’s lower flat rate VAT rebate for the remainder of the year, as it had done over the past two months’ milk cheques.