Lakeland Dairies has announced the price it will pay to farmer suppliers for May milk.

Lakeland said the board has agreed to increase the price for milk by 0.5c/L for May.

A base price of 37.5c/L at constituents of 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein will be paid for May milk in the Republic of Ireland.

This is inclusive of the 0.5c/l Sustainability Incentive Payment, Lakeland said.

In Northern Ireland, a base price of 30.1p/L will be paid for milk supplied in May which is also inclusive of the Sustainability Incentive Payment.

This is an increase of 0.5p/L.

Milk supply

Lakeland said that while milk pricing is increasing, it is "more a function of support rather than market conditions".

"Milk supply remains strong and continues to influence the market, while demand has weakened since last month," it said.

"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."

Ornua PPI

In other dairy news, earlier this month Ornua confirmed an increase in its May Purchase Price Index (PPI) at 129.8, up from the previous month at 127.0.

The PPI is a monthly indicator of market returns on dairy products purchased by Ornua - including butter, cheese, whole milk powder and protein products - relative to comparable returns generated in a base year.

Ornua’s estimate of member co-ops processing costs was 9.5c/L in month - the same figure of 9.5 cpl in the previous month.