Local dairy co-op Dale Farm, has confirmed it will make a 13th payment on all milk supplied to the business between April 2025 and March 2026.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Dale Farm CEO Nick Whelan said the payment would be “at least 0.75p/l”, but a final decision would be taken once the financial year comes to a close at the end of March.

It is understood that the co-op had hoped to make a payment on all litres of up to 1p/l, but the war in the Middle East has impacted some shipments of cheese to the region, which has created uncertainty about the final financial position at year end. In the March 2025 milk cheque, Dale Farm included a 13th payment of 0.5p/l on all litres produced from April 2024.

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Dairy commodity markets have strengthened in recent weeks, raising hopes of a lift to base prices in NI for milk produced in March. However, global output remains strong and there is uncertainty created by the issues in the Middle East.

Dropped?

At the Dutch Dairy Board auction on Wednesday, butter dropped €150/t to a price of €4,550/t. It was the first reduction seen in butter price since late January.

However, powders saw relatively small gains, with whole milk powder up €60 at €3,510/t, while skim increased by €90 to €2,770/t.