The four west Cork co-ops all dropped 1c/l for June. However, they remain at the top as milk supply heads over peak. Tirlán and Dairygold both dropped 2c/l for June, sending them well down the pecking order into the bottom half of division two.

There are three big players in division three – Lakeland, Aurivo and Kerry Group. All three were in division three for May and so remain at the bottom for June.

At national average solids, it means the June milk cheque was €2,200 less than what it was if you were milking 100 cows in west Cork compared to Lakeland, Aurivo or Kerry.

May and June are crucial months for dairy farmers.

It is peak milk supply for the majority of spring-calving herds.

The average price for June across all milk processors is €5.17/kg milk solids at modern milk solids or 36.8c/l at the old 3.3% protein and 3.6% fat.

Arrabawn held June price when all around it was falling, so it is top of division two for June. North Cork bucked the trend for June and was actually the only co-op to lift price a touch, up 0.25c/l from May.

Boherbue had removed its compulsory trading bonus since January but it has reintroduced it for June which means if you don’t buy feed you don’t get the bonus so that 1c/l drops off for the June milk league to compare like with like.

Cumulative column

When June is included, you can see there is almost €10,000 of a difference between the west Cork co-ops and those co-ops in division three excluding the west Cork SCC bonus.