The Lakeland Dairies Board today (Thursday, February 12) confirmed it will hold the price for milk for January.
The board has agreed to hold the based price of 33.25c/L – based on 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein – for January milk in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) which is inclusive of the 0.5c/L Sustainability Incentive Payment.
This is the same as the price paid in December.
However the co-op also said today that “to help and support farmers through the current market challenges, the co-operative will pay a 2c/L input support”.
It added that ROI farmers will receive the normal 1c/L early calving bonus.
“This will bring the minimum base price for milk to 36.25c/L,” Lakeland Dairies stated.
The co-operative will also pay 5c/L on all qualifying litres for the out of season bonus.
Lakeland Dairies
In Northern Ireland Lakeland Dairies will pay a base price of 26.3p/L for milk supplied in January which is also inclusive of the Sustainability Incentive Payment.
This is the same as the price paid in December.
The co-op added that an input support of 1.75p/L will also be paid.
“All farmers will also receive an out-of-season payment of 3p/L. This will bring the minimum base price for milk in NI to 31.05p/L,” Lakeland Dairies added.
According to the co-op’s board “following a period of significant weakness, global dairy markets have shown some tentative signs of stabilisation”.
But it also warned that “conditions remain unpredictable”.
“Lakeland Dairies will continue to monitor the markets and will endeavour to support our farmers with the best milk price possible in line with market conditions,” the co-op stated.
Ornua
Meanwhile the latest Ornua Purchase Price Index (PPI) indicates an almost 3c/L reduction in milk price return for January.
The PPI indicative milk price return for last month is 34.2c/L, down from 37c/L for December.
The index figure has fallen to 121.9 for January, compared to 129.4 for the previous month.
The figure is based on an estimated member co-op processing cost of 9c/L for the first quarter of the year, which is down slightly on the 9.1c/L estimated processing cost for last quarter, which was used to calculate the December index.
