Bonus payments totalling 4p/l for milk produced in December mean Lakeland Dairies is on top of the monthly league table for a 1m litre supplier (Table B).

The prices are based on alternate day collection and calculated at three different milk qualities, as outlined in Table 1.

For good quality milk, which is set at 4.42% butterfat, 3.38% protein, 4.79% lactose with TBC and SCC values under 10 and 100, milk price averaged 31.36p/l across all processors, and is 0.28p/l lower than the equivalent for November.

Lakeland is out in front on 33.64p/l, followed by Glanbia Milk/Fivemiletown on 31.52p/l. During 2020, Lakeland finished within the top two positions for good quality milk on nine occasions, while Glanbia Milk was placed in the top two on 11 occasions.

Glanbia Cheese is in fourth, overtaking Aurivo, which slips to joint sixth with Strathroy, while Dale Farm sits in fifth.

Average quality

Moving to average quality milk, solids are set at 4.28% butterfat and 3.28% protein, with cell counts between 11 and 20 for TBC and 101 to 200 for SCC, making these parameters much more reflective of the typical dairy farm in NI.

Across all processors, prices averaged 30.45p/l for December, which is a marginal increase on the previous month.

Positions from first to fifth place are identical to the previous month, meaning Lakeland stays out in front on 32.50p/l with Glanbia Milk holding second place on 30.58p/l.

The only change sees Strathroy overtakes Aurivo, which finishes at the bottom of the table, due mainly to a 1p/l reduction in winter bonus payments.

12-month average

Despite finishing second to Lakeland for December, Glanbia Milk/Fivemiletown ends 2020 by paying the highest 12-month average rolling price across all three milk qualities (Table C).

Rolling milk prices continue to creep upwards across all processors, reflecting the higher prices paid during the second half of 2020 compared to the previous year.

Glanbia Milk leads with a rolling average of 28.39p/l for good quality milk. Lakeland finishes third and thanks to its strong prices during the final two months of 2020, it has narrowed the gap to just 0.04p/l.

For average quality milk, all places are unchanged from the previous month. Glanbia and Lakeland hold top positions once again, with Glanbia Cheese in fourth, ahead of Aurivo, while Dale Farm and Strathroy round out the table.

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