The latest Milk Price Tracker - brought to you by Agriland and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) - details milk prices from the most significant Irish dairy co-ops for the month of November.

The co-ops within the Milk Price Tracker are ranked from highest to lowest price for base milk price only.

It is important to note that the cent-per-litre (c/L) milk prices shown in the table below are calculated using the widely accepted milk pricing system.

The conversion factor used is 1.03, which means that 1L of milk corresponds to 1.03kg of milk.

It is Agriland and ICMSA policy not to include support payments, bonuses, or additional payments in the calculation of the base milk price.

November Milk Price Tracker

The trend of dropping milk prices has continued for yet another month, with every single co-op dropping prices by at least 2c/L.

This is now the fifth consecutive month of milk price cuts, with milk cheques now severely affected.

The average base price across the 14 processors for November supplies is now 36.35c/L, down 12.28c/L from the average base price for June supplies, which was 48.63c/L.

Aurivo and Lakeland Dairies both delivered substantial cuts of 4c/L this month, the second month in a row where Lakeland Dairies has slashed prices by 4c/L.

Meanwhile, Boherbue is now offering the leading milk price with a base price of 38c/L.

However they offer no bonuses, therefore that price is also the maximum attainable price.

In terms of the ranking milk prices, Arrabawn Tipperary jumped to second position, up from tenth last month, after reducing milk price by 2c/L.

Other processors to deliver 2c/L cuts included Dairygold, Centenary, and Tírlan.

Last month was the first month since January 2024 where a co-op paid less than 37c/L, now seven processors are below the 37c/L marker.

Dairygold is still offering the lowest base price, coming in at 34.53c/L and a maximum attainable price of 36c/L.

Considering every co-op has again slashed prices between 2.00-4.00c/L, it is hard to see next month's prices staying steady.

This presents a colossal worry for farmers, considering cost of production is anywhere between 37-41c/L.

Farmers have already witnessed a 35% reduction between their June and October milk cheques, with analysts predicting a low net margin of 11.5c/L in 2026.

There is still no upturn expected in milk prices until Q3 of 2026.

November bonuses and penalties

Further details of bonuses and penalties for the Milk Price Tracker can be found by clicking here.

With regard to the latest Milk Price Tracker for November, the following explanatory notes (all bonus and penalty payments are based on manufacturing milk) apply.

Unconditional bonuses

North Cork are paying a supplementary 0.475c/L (excl. VAT ) on November supplies 
A loyalty payment of 0.29c/L (excl. VAT) will be paid on all 2025 litres supplied and will be paid in January 2026.

Conditional bonuses

Arrabawn/Tipperary pays a 0.4c/L (excl. VAT) bonus on all milk with a somatic cell count (SCC) less than 200,000 cells/ml;
Arrabawn/Tipperary pays a 0.712/L (excl. VAT) sustainability bonus;
Aurivo is paying a 0.5c/L (excl. VAT) future milk sustainability bonus;
Aurivo has a milk storage bonus which is available to suppliers with a minimum annual supply of 160,000L that have enough refrigerated storage capacity to cover seven milkings at peak production. The storage bonus of 0.44c/L was taken from the ‘C’ from September 2021. ‘C’ is 3.813;
Aurivo has a 0.21c/L (excl. VAT) protein bonus available for every 0.05% protein achieved, above the co-op average protein %, in an individual month;
Carbery Group pays a bonus of 0.5c/L (excl. VAT) from March to October and a 0.88c/L (excl. VAT) bonus from November to February to suppliers who achieve an SCC of less than 200,000 cells/ml;
In September 2022, Carbery began to pay a sustainability bonus of 0.5c/L to farmers who have committed to Carbery’s futureproof programme. This is 1.25c/L for 2025 and is paid on all milk supplied by farmers who have signed a sustainability pledge and complete three actions. This is paid in January each year;
Dairygold has a maximum bonus attainable by farmers who achieve the minimum requirements for six criteria (total bacteria count (TBC); thermoduric; sediment; SCC; lactose and inhibitors). This cumulatively amounts to 0.4c/L (excl. VAT);
Dairygold has a 1.06c/L grassroots sustainability bonus payment for water quality, protected urea, soil health, education, milk recording, herd health and Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS);
Kerry Dairy Ireland are paying a sustainability bonus of 1.35c/L (excl VAT) for a range of measures. This payment was introduced in January 2025. This includes the 0.4c/L (excl. VAT) bonus on all milk with an SCC less than 200,000 cells/ml and 0.1c/L (excl. VAT) for SDAS;
Lakeland is paying a 0.47c/L (excl. VAT) milk sustainability bonus;
North Cork pays a 0.2c/L (excl. VAT) bonus on all milk with an SCC of less than 200,000 cells/ml;
North Cork pays a 0.135c/L (excl. VAT) bonus if four milk recordings are carried out in the year. It will be paid the following January;
Strathroy pays a 0.25c/L (excl. VAT) bonus on all milk with an SCC of less than 200,000 cells/ml;
Strathroy also pays a 0.25c/L (excl. VAT) bonus on all milk with a TBC of less than 10,000 cells/ml;
Strathroy pays a 0.5c/L (excl. VAT) sustainability bonus, this was introduced in January 2024;
Tirlán is paying a sustainability action payment of 0.47c/L (excl. VAT) .