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.

September Milk Price Tracker

For the month of September, every co-op elevated its milk price offering.

Six out of the 14 major co-ops lifted prices by 1c/L for the month.

These co-ops included Strathroy, Tirlán, Centenary, North Cork, Dairygold, and ArraTipp.

Boherbue increased its offering by 0.8c/L, while Kinisla increased its price by 0.75c/L, and Lakeland Dairies offered 0.6c/L more for the month.

Carbery's four west Cork co-ops of Lisavaird, Drinagh, Bandon, and Barryroe saw an increase of 0.5c/L, as did Aurivo co-op.

As it stands, Carbery's four west Cork co-ops continue to lock out the top of the table in terms of best base price offering, a position which it has now held for nine consecutive months.

These four co-ops are now paying an average base price of 40.54c/L.

ArraTipp is still the lowest paying co-op in regards to base price, which now sits at 38.33c/L.

The increased prices for the month saw the average base price paid across the board climb to 39.66c/L, a 0.91c/L increase from August, and a combined increase of 1.15c/L since July.

These prices come following a domestic milk intake reduction of 12.8 million litres in September 2026 when compared to September 2025.

On a global market, trade seems to be following a positive trajectory.

The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index has now climbed back up to  1,243, the highest it has been since St. Patrick's Day this year.

This follows three consecutive increases, with the latest trade seeing product selling for an average price of €3,714/t.

Meanwhile, Ornua has confirmed another notable increase in its Purchase Price Index (PPI), with the figure now standing at 144.8, up from 135.8 for September.

With trade looking strong on a global market, and milk intake down on a domestic level, farmers will be expecting offerings to continue to rise through the winter months, hoping to hit next spring with a positive milk price.

September 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 September, the following explanatory notes (all bonus and penalty payments are based on manufacturing milk) apply.

Unconditional bonuses

Aurivo paid 0.71c/l (excl VAT) (plus constituents) from its stability fund on all milk supplied in September; 
North Cork is paying 0.245c/L (excl. VAT)  support payment on September milk.

Conditional bonuses

ArraTipp pays a 0.4c/L (excl. VAT) bonus on all milk with a somatic cell count (SCC) less than 200,000 cells/ml;
ArraTipp pays a 0.712/L (excl. VAT) sustainability bonus;
Aurivo is paying a 0.75c/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 2026 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);
Kinisla is paying a sustainability bonus of 1.45c/L (excl VAT) for a range of measures. This payment was introduced in January 2025 and readjusted in May 2026. This includes the 0.5c/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) .