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 September.

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.

October Milk Price Tracker

Farmers have been served yet another blow to their milk cheque, as the base milk price has dropped for the fourth consecutive month in the majority of co-ops.

The only exceptions are Arrabawn Tipperary and Strathroy, who did not cut their prices for July supplies, but have now delivered their third consecutive cut.

Five co-ops delivered substantial cuts of 4c/L for their October supplies, with two of them (Centenary and Tirlán) having also cut September supplies by 4c/L.

This leaves these two co-ops in the bottom three processors again this month, while Dairygold maintains the bottom position, offering a base price of 36.53c/L despite delivering the smallest price cut for October.

The other three co-ops to cut prices by 4c/L were Strathroy, Lakeland Dairies, and North Cork Creameries.

Lisavaird held their position of leading milk price payer, despite cutting October suppliers by 3.69c/L, with Drinagh holding position number two following an identical price cut.

In terms of the ranking milk prices, there was not a lot of significant movement in the table this week, bar Boherbue, who dropped three places following a milk price cut of 3.75c/L.

This resulted in Bandon moving into the top three, with Barryroe also moving up a place while Aurivo and Strathroy swapped positions.

This is the first month since January 2024 where a co-op has paid less than 37c/L.

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

On top of this, considering the significant cuts of between 3.25-4.00c/L, it is easy to think prices will continue with the falling trend.

At the recent National Dairy Conference held by Teagasc, dairy market analyst Chris Walkland said he would not expect an upturn in prices until the third quarter of 2026.

The co-ops continue to say that the reasoning for these falling milk prices is down to increased global supplies, and the international decline in butter and cheese prices.

With the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) witnessing a further 4.3% reduction, bringing the average price per metric tonne to €3,011.

The index figure now stands at 1,054, the lowest figure since January 2, 2024, when the figure was 1,038.

One thing for sure is farmers will be under financial pressure this spring.

October 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 October, 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 October supplies 

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) .