Tirlán consolidates position at top of NI milk league

For the second month in a row and the fifth month out of the last six, Tirlán/Fivemiletown leads our monthly milk league analysis in NI, having paid 47.11p/l to a typical 750,000l producer for February supplies.

Having held base price at 40.9p/l and with a 3p/l winter bonus still applicable in February, Tirlán is over 1p/l ahead of its nearest rivals.

The February milk league is calculated at the NI average recorded by DAERA for the same month in 2024, with butterfat at 4.23%, protein at 3.28%, lactose of 4.78%, TBC of 20 and SCC at 197.

With the January milk league calculated at 4.27% butterfat and 3.29% protein, lower milk solids in February have effectively taken 0.28p/l off the Tirlán price.

That same situation is replicated elsewhere, with most processors holding base price in February, meaning that the reduction in milk solids has taken down prices paid.

However, Lakeland Dairies did cut its base price by 1p/l and as a result, it has slipped from second to fifth in our monthly league.

Dale Farm has moved up from third to second, despite the fact it does not make a pay-out via its milk production realignment scheme in February through to July.

Last month, the average Dale Farm Supplier received 0.52p/l from the scheme, which was factored into our milk league price.

Behind Dale Farm, Aurivo is a close third, with a final price of 45.88p/l, followed by Strathroy, Lakeland and Leprino Foods.

Along with Dale Farm, Leprino is the other company that does not pay a winter bonus for February milk. With all these winter bonuses dropping off in March, there is likely to be more significant changes in base prices next month.

Rolling average

Also shown alongside our February league is the rolling average price paid to a 750,000l producer over the last 12 months. The analysis shows that Tirlán has paid 1p/l more than any other processor over the last year. Aurivo has moved ahead of Lakeland into second, with other positions unchanged.

The 12-month rolling prices are up by around 1p/l on last month, mainly due to prices dropping off from last February 2024 that were around the mid-30p/l mark.

Shown in Figure 1 is our estimate of the payout made to a typical 750,000l supplier, based on the actual butterfat and protein recorded by the processor in February 2025.

It is no surprise that Tirlán is out in front, given the company led our main milk league analysis and has higher milk solids than anyone else. However, having finished third in our main milk league, Aurivo is up to second due to higher butterfat and protein percentages from its supply base than Dale Farm.