Carbery has become the fifth processor to leave its milk price unchanged for October.
It follows Dairygold, Kerry Group, Tirlán and Lakeland Dairies who have all held their prices for milk supplied in October.
Carbery today (Thursday, November 17) confirmed that it will hold its base price for October milk supplies.
Carbery is 100% owned by four Irish milk co-operatives -Bandon, Barryroe, Drinagh and Lisavaird – who are based in West Cork.
The co-ops are in turn owned by an estimated 1,200 farmer shareholders, with an average herd size of 90 cows, many of these farmers also supply milk to the factory.
Carbery said today that if the decision to leave the milk price unchanged for October is replicated across by the four West Cork co-ops this will result in an average price for October of 57.2cpl, inclusive of VAT and 0.5cpl Somatic Cell Count (SCC) bonus.
Dairygold also confirmed today that its October milk price was unchanged.
It has maintained the base figure of 57.5c/L based on standard constituents of 3.3% protein and 3.6% butterfat, inclusive of bonuses and VAT.
Meanwhile in a statement Carbery said that in September it began to pay out a sustainability bonus of 0.5c per litre to farmers who have committed to Carbery’s FutureProof program.
Carbery added:
“The 0.5cpl is paid on all milk supplied in 2022 to farmers who have signed a sustainability pledge and agreed to undergo an ASSAP water quality assessment.”
FutureProof initiative and milk price
It first announced details of the FutureProof programme in August when it outlined that it would “offer a total €6 million annual bonus fund” for suppliers who meet four sustainability criteria under the initiative.
From 2023, farmers who meet the four criteria will receive a bonus of 1c per litre of milk, in order to qualify suppliers must deliver:
- Milk recording at least four times a year
- Using a percentage of protected urea as part of their total fertiliser use
- Commit to an agricultural sustainability support and advisory programme (ASSAP) assessment
- Are meeting certain Economic Breeding Index (EBI) thresholds