Glanbia has held its January milk price for its member suppliers at 25c/L including VAT.

This price is inclusive of a 1c/L Glanbia Co-Operative Society support payment to its members.

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) has announced that it has set a January market price of 24c/L including VAT for manufacturing milk at 3.6% fat and 3.3% protein.

The Board of Glanbia Co-operative Society has decided to pay members that have signed an MSA a bonus of 1c/L (including VAT) for January manufacturing and liquid milk supplies.

Last week, Lakeland Dairies cut its milk price for January supplies of milk. The co-op was the first to set a milk price for 2016.

It has cut its milk price for base supplies from 26.25c/L to 25.5c/L for January.

If a lactose bonus (0.28c) is applicable, the milk price would be 28.78c/L including VAT. Lakeland Dairies had held its milk price for December supplies of milk.

IFA calls for urgent meeting of the Dairy Forum as co-ops set prices

The IFA is calling for an urgent meeting of the Dairy Forum as co-ops nationwide set their January milk price this week, in the midst of the worst dairy market for many years.

Speaking following this week’s meeting of the IFA National Dairy Committee, Chairman Sean O’Leary said members are seriously concerned that fellow-dairy farmers would be hit head-on by the severity of their cash flow situation when they receive their first 2016 milk cheque around mid-March.

O’Leary said that low constituents, low volumes, high expenses including feed and superlevy bills, will cut deep into farmers’ cash flow.

“Joined-up support from the main stakeholders needs to click in over the next two to three months, and an urgent meeting of the Dairy Forum under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture would help co-ordinate the necessary short-term actions by the main parties.”

In meeting co-ops in the last four weeks, he said the IFA have made it very clear that the crucial milk price support they provided during 2015 needed to continue, especially for the early months of 2016.