Tirlán/Fivemiletown tops the NI milk league for the second month in a row, paying a final price of 48.11p/l for milk supplied in October.

Factors helping Tirlán top the table include a 0.75p/l increase to base price plus a 3p/l winter bonus, which left suppliers on a starting point of 43.9p/l.

While that price lags behind the combined base and winter bonus payments from Dale Farm and Leprino Foods, both are overtaken in the final analysis due to the higher monetary value placed on milk solids by Tirlán’s hybrid A+B-C pricing model.

Increased solids

The prices published in the October league are calculated at 4.35% butterfat, 3.43% protein, 4.68% lactose, 20 TBC and 201 SCC, which are the average milk quality figures published by DAERA for the same month last year. Across all of 2023, October saw the highest protein figure and second highest butterfat percentage recorded by DAERA. As a result, milk quality bonuses make a significant contribution to the overall milk price paid in our October milk league analysis.

Winter bonuses

Behind Tirlán, Dale Farm remains in second place, despite paying the highest starting price for October at 44.8p/l. That price includes a 2p/l winter bonus and 1.5p/l increase to base price.

The co-op’s published price of 47.23p/l also incorporates a 0.47p/l top up, which was the average pay out to suppliers under its milk production realignment scheme. This three-year scheme pays 4p/l for additional litres supplied over historic reference volumes, between August and January each year.

Elsewhere, Leprino Foods moves up one place to third, thanks to a 4p/l winter bonus payment, with the Magheralin processor holding on a base price of 40.75p/l

Aurivo jumps two places to fourth, helped by a 1p/l increase to base and a 2p/l winter bonus. Dropping two places to fifth and sixth are Lakeland Dairies and Strathroy respectively.

Neither processor pays a winter bonus for October and that leaves them lagging 4p and 5p/l behind table-topping Tirlán.

12-month rolling average

In terms of prices paid over the last 12 months, the gap at the top of our rolling milk league table has widened to 1.4p/l with Tirlán paying an average of 39.98p/l.

Dale Farm remains in second with Aurivo in third and no positional changes in the lower half of the table.

Estimated pay-out

Figure 1 estimates the October milk cheque for a 750,000 litre producer supplying 7.2% of annual volume at the average butterfat and protein recorded by each processor last month.

Tirlán is out in front on £27,156 with Dale Farm its closest competitor. All rankings for Figure 1 match those published in the October league table.

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