The Ornua Purchase Price Index (PPI) fell in May to 80.8 points, this is the fourteenth consecutive drop of the index.
The PPI is a monthly indicator of market returns on dairy products (butter, cheese and whole milk powder) sold by Ornua.
The May return is down 18% on the same month in 2015 and back 35% on May 2014.
In April of this year, the PPI dropped to 81.4 points, while it stood at 84.2 points in March.
May’s PPI drop now means that the market indicator has declined by nearly 6% since the beginning of the year.
Ornua’s Purchase Price Index (PPI)
Irish milk production falls in April
Although Ornua’s PPI shows that product prices have declined in both April and May, recent statistics indicate that Irish milk production fell during the month of April.
Milk production in Ireland fell 4.1% in April when compared to the same month last year, the first fall year on year since March 2015.
Domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers was estimated at 752.1m litres for April 2016.
The fall comes on the back of exceptionally cold month in April which hit grass growth and milk production on most dairy farms.
Also of note, is that April 2015 was the first month post-quota removal and on many farms milk was held in bulk tanks in order to avoid superlevy bills this contributed to exceptionally strong April production 12 months ago.