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Glanbia Milk/Fivemiletown remain on top of the NI milk league, a position they have now held since January.
While all processors in NI cut base prices for April, Glanbia Milk/Fivemiletown applied one of the lowest reductions at 0.5p/l. This put the Virginia-based company on a base of 23.75p/l, including its 0.6p/l year-round bonus, which is 0.5p/l ahead of its nearest competitor.
Once all premiums on milk quality and volume have been applied, along with any deductions on transport, Glanbia Milk paid a table topping 24.78p/l for milk collected on alternate days last month.
Milk quality
The NI milk league is based on a dairy farmer supplying 650,000l annually with a supply profile that reflects normal seasonal trends.
The monthly milk quality values used in the calculations are taken from DAERA statistics for the same month in the previous year.
For April, this puts butterfat on 4.03%, protein on 3.28%, lactose on 4.74% with a TBC of 16 and SCC of 187.
Lower solids
As milk production rises toward peak levels in May, milk solids are generally lower than those used in previous months.
As a result, base price and transport costs had a bigger influence on the final league positions.
Behind Glanbia, Lakeland is up one place from the previous month, to finish third on 24.46p/l, overtaking Strathroy which slips to fourth on 24.19p/l.
Both processors have zero charges for collecting milk on alternate days, which helps to keep them towards the top of the table. Despite paying the second highest base price of 23.25p/l, Aurivo finishes in fifth spot on 24.17p/l. Sliding one place to sixth is Dale Farm on 24.05p/l. At the milk qualities used for April, the NI co-op paid one of the highest top-ups of 1.4p/l, but ultimately this was undermined by its collection charge of 0.4p/l.
Glanbia Cheese finishes bottom of the league for the fourth month in a row on 23.89p/l.
Twelve-month average
While Glanbia Milk has held the top spot on the monthly league since January, Lakeland continues to have paid the highest milk price over the 12-month period ending April 2020.
Glanbia is placed second on 26.34p/l, now just 0.03p/l behind Lakeland.
Aurivo moves up one position to finish joint fourth with Strathroy on 26.14p/l, with Dale Farm and Glanbia Cheese unchanged in sixth and seventh place.
For daily milk collection, Aurivo and Strathroy have paid the highest price over the past 12 months, with both on 26.14p/l.
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