Most of the co-ops held milk price for April deliveries, which is the first of the big milk months, accounting for over 11% of annual supplies. Only a handful of co-ops cut milk price. Kerry Dairy Ireland was one of those and so it drops out of division one, but is at the top of division two for April. This means it is just the four west Cork co-ops that are in division one for April, paying an average price of €6.887/kg MS, which is 19c/kg ahead of the average price for April. To put that in context, it’s worth €958 (excl VAT) to a typical supplier delivering over 5,071kg MS for the month of April.
Division two is a tight pack, with relatively small differences between each co-op. Aurivo is behind Kerry, but ahead of big players Tirlán and Dairygold. Centenary price is linked to Tirlán, but it pays a small SCC bonus to incentivise lower SCC milk. Up to now these SCC payments wouldn’t have been included in the Irish Farmers Journal milk league, but in a change for 2025 we are including bonuses on a pro-rata basis based on 2024 SCC levels.
North Cork Co-op reduced their price by 6c/kg MS for April, while near neighbour Boherbue held its price and both co-ops find themselves remaining in division two for April. The same is not true for Arrabawn Tipperary, it reduced its April price by 13c/kg MS for April and it now joins Lakeland Dairies in the bottom division.
In April 2024, Arrabawn was in division one and Tipperary Co-op was in division three, whereas this April the new entity is in division three, which will come as a disappointment to suppliers from both camps. The Arrabawn Tipperary price includes the full sustainability payment and most of the SCC payment, which comes to over 13.5c/kg MS on top of the base price.
Dairy prices are remarkably stable and the spring flush of milk in Europe isn’t having the same impact at reducing spot market prices as in most other years. Across the EU, milk supplies decreased by 0.7% between January to March 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Within that, key producing regions recorded substantial drops with Germany back 2.5%, France back 2% and Netherlands back 1.9%. Irish supplies for the same period are up 5.1%. This indicates a milk price drop is unlikley in the short term.
Most of the co-ops held milk price for April deliveries, which is the first of the big milk months, accounting for over 11% of annual supplies. Only a handful of co-ops cut milk price. Kerry Dairy Ireland was one of those and so it drops out of division one, but is at the top of division two for April. This means it is just the four west Cork co-ops that are in division one for April, paying an average price of €6.887/kg MS, which is 19c/kg ahead of the average price for April. To put that in context, it’s worth €958 (excl VAT) to a typical supplier delivering over 5,071kg MS for the month of April.
Division two is a tight pack, with relatively small differences between each co-op. Aurivo is behind Kerry, but ahead of big players Tirlán and Dairygold. Centenary price is linked to Tirlán, but it pays a small SCC bonus to incentivise lower SCC milk. Up to now these SCC payments wouldn’t have been included in the Irish Farmers Journal milk league, but in a change for 2025 we are including bonuses on a pro-rata basis based on 2024 SCC levels.
North Cork Co-op reduced their price by 6c/kg MS for April, while near neighbour Boherbue held its price and both co-ops find themselves remaining in division two for April. The same is not true for Arrabawn Tipperary, it reduced its April price by 13c/kg MS for April and it now joins Lakeland Dairies in the bottom division.
In April 2024, Arrabawn was in division one and Tipperary Co-op was in division three, whereas this April the new entity is in division three, which will come as a disappointment to suppliers from both camps. The Arrabawn Tipperary price includes the full sustainability payment and most of the SCC payment, which comes to over 13.5c/kg MS on top of the base price.
Dairy prices are remarkably stable and the spring flush of milk in Europe isn’t having the same impact at reducing spot market prices as in most other years. Across the EU, milk supplies decreased by 0.7% between January to March 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Within that, key producing regions recorded substantial drops with Germany back 2.5%, France back 2% and Netherlands back 1.9%. Irish supplies for the same period are up 5.1%. This indicates a milk price drop is unlikley in the short term.
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