Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) analysis has shown that there was a €15,217 price differential between the top and bottom milk processor in Ireland last year, a figure which has more than doubled since 2020.

To compare across each of the 13 processors, the IFA calculated the revenue a dairy farmer would receive each month if they supplied 500,000l of milk per year from a spring-calving herd.

Essentially, the average spring-calving dairy herd was taken and, based on average solids, the IFA calculated what that herd would

generate in milk sales, depending on which processor the milk was supplied to.

Top and bottom

Drinagh Co-op, Lisavaird Co-op and Bandon Co-op were the top three paying co-ops in 2022, while North Cork Co-op, Tipperary Co-op and Srathroy Dariies were in the bottom three.

Drinagh paid farmers an average milk price of 62.16c/l compared with North Cork Co-op, which was at the bottom end of the scale, paying 59.12c/l.

Now in its fourth year, IFA dairy committee chair Stephen Arthur said the analysis continues to provide greater transparency within the dairy sector and enables the IFA to seek better prices for dairy farmers.

'Smoke and mirrors'

He said that the analysis "removes all the smoke and mirrors" surrounding milk price and lays it out in black and white.

However, the analysis excludes any bonuses that are dependent on trade with the processor and also any sustainability payments that require farmers to commit to undertake further action on their farms.

“These bonuses are artificial. There is no extra pot of money for such measures, so, very quickly, such bonuses erode the underlying base price of milk,” Arthur said.

Reflecting on the year, Arthur said while milk receipts were considerably greater in 2022, "we are very aware that farmers with milk volumes in fixed milk price contracts received significantly less".

"The analysis does not capture the negative impact fixed milk price contracts have had on incomes in 2022.

“We will continue to use this analysis to lobby for better returns for farmers from their milk processors,” he concluded.