There is some downward pressure in prices paid for milk produced in June, with Dale Farm taking 1p/l off its price.

That leaves suppliers to the co-op on a base of 40.8p/l inclusive of the 0.3p loyalty bonus and before milk collection charges (which typically average around 0.3p/l) are applied.

Leprino Foods is also down, taking 0.5p/l off its milk price, leaving base at 39.25p/l.

However, NI’s largest milk processor, Lakeland Dairies confirmed last Thursday it was holding at a base of 39.8p/l. In addition, an “unconditional bonus” of 0.5p/l would be paid for a second month in a row, effectively taking its starting point to 40.3p/l. That should leave the co-op towards the top end of our June milk league.

Announcing their price, a spokesperson for Lakeland said that global dairy markets remain relatively stable, but strong milk supplies in many regions are starting to have an impact.

Those higher supplies have led to a slight softening of commodity prices in recent weeks. At the latest Dutch Dairy Board auction on Wednesday butter was down €120 to €7,180/t and it is now back €220 from a peak of €7,400/t in mid-June.

Whole milk powder was down €30 at €4,230, although skim milk powder was unchanged at €2,380/t.

At the New Zealand Global Dairy Trade auction on Tuesday, the overall index was up 1.1% to an average weighted price of US$4,380.

That came after a run of four negative auction results since early May.

Skim milk powder increased by 2.5% to US$2,785/t, whole milk powder was 1.7% higher at US$3,928/t while butter was unchanged at US$7,492.