Tirlán suppliers are spending €90m a year on land leasing, Brian Hanafin head of milk pool development at Tirlán, said at the co-op’s open day in Ballyragget on Wednesday.

Supply base

“If we look across our supply base, the cost of renting land equates to about 3c/l, so from our 3bn litre milk pool, there is about €90m a year transferring from active farmers to landowners,” he told farmers.

Speaking about the barriers facing farmers looking to expand, while renting land is one, Hanafin said that the cost of borrowing, the cost of infrastructure, availability of labour and the derogation are other factors.

While the volume of Tirlán’s milk pool has “stagnated” compared to 2023, Hanafin says he expects to see increased growth in milk solids versus volume.