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Tirlán/Fivemiletown continues its run at the top of the NI milk league, paying 39.19p/l for milk supplied in May on alternate day collection.
The Republic of Ireland-based co-op has now led the milk league for seven consecutive months, going back to November 2023, and was one of five processors that increased base prices for May.
Tirlán opted for a 0.5p/l increase, which put its starting price on 37.15p/l, just under 1p/l ahead of its closest competitor, Aurivo.
Once top-up payments are included for milk quality the gap to second increases to 1.5p/l. There is a range of 2.7p/l between the highest and lowest prices paid.
Milk quality
NI milk production reaches peak supply in May and as yields supplied to processors increase, milk solids are trending downwards month on month.
As solids decline, butterfat and protein make up a smaller percentage of the overall milk price, meaning the differences between processors on base price ultimately determine the final league positions.
For May, the league table is calculated at 4.09% butterfat, 3.28% protein, 4.77% lactose, 22 TBC and 194 SCC, which are the NI average figures recorded by DAERA for the same month last year.
Aurivo finishes in second place for the third month is a row, after a 0.44p/l increase brought its base price to 36.25p/l.
A 0.5p/l increase to a 36p/l base sees Strathroy moving up one place to third, overtaking Lakeland Dairies which slips to fourth.
Lakeland was the only processor to leave its May base price unchanged.
Dale Farm remains in fifth place, despite a 0.25p/l price increase, with Leprino Foods finishing at the bottom of the table for the third consecutive month.
12-month rolling average
With Tirlán dominating the league in 2024, it is no surprise the co-op leads our analysis over a rolling 12-month period, paying an average of 35.37p/l from June 2023 to May 2024.
There are no positional changes, with Dale Farm remaining in second, despite finishing in the lower half of the table in May. The NI co-op is still over 1p/l ahead of its main competitor, Lakeland Dairies.
Estimated payout
While the milk league is calculated using the NI average figures from the previous year, Figure 1 estimates the payout to a 750,000l producer using the actual fat and protein values recorded by each processor in May.
Tirlán has the highest pay-out at £29,196, followed by Aurivo and Lakeland.
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