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 May.

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.

May Milk Price Tracker

Milk prices held relatively stable for once again for May supplies, with no direct cuts from any processors.

Three co-ops have increased offers for the month of May.

Dairygold and Lakeland Dairies both increased base milk prices by 0.5c/L, while Kinisla increased its milk price by 0.4c/L.

The Carbery Group co-ops of Lisavaird, Drinagh, Bandon, and Barryroe continue to lock out the top four spots in terms of base milk price paid, with an average base price of 38.97c/L paid across the four.

Despite increasing its May offerings, Dairygold is still holding position as the co-op with the lowest offering in terms of base price at 36.04.

The increased prices this month means the average base price is now sitting at 37.45c/L.

In terms of the global market, prices are not looking any more elegant than they are domestically.

The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) fell back by a further 4.9% in the latest trading event, a third consecutive drop leading to an average price of €3,323/t.

Ornua has confirmed another slight increase in its Purchase Price Index (PPI), with the figure now standing at 130.1, up from 129.8 in May.  

If we look towards our pasture-based dairy contemporaries in New Zealand, we can see the situation is just as poor there as they gear up for calving.

Fonterra has narrowed its farmgate milk price to $9.25 per kilogrammes of milk solids (kgMS), with a new range of $8.00-$10.50 per kgMS.

This is a reduction from the $9.75 per kgMS announced in May, when the co-op started with a wide range of $8.00-$11.00 per kgMS. 

With Irish dairy herds well past peak milk production and cheques starting to shrink, dairy farms will be sorely feeling the financial pressure of 2026 milk prices.

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

Unconditional bonuses

Aurivo are paying 0.95c/l (excl VAT) (plus constituents) from their stability fund on all milk supplied in May.  
Carbery are paying 1.44c/L (excl. VAT) to the four West Cork Co-ops from the stability fund. These Co-ops paid this as part of their A and B price.
Tirlán have retrospectively added 0.47c/L (excl. VAT) to March to May milk supplies.

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 that 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 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 0.5c/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).