Tirlán has announced its milk price for the month of December, plus a seasonal pay out for supplies last month that meet quality criteria.

The processor said its total price will be 56.08c/L, including VAT, for December creamery milk supplies at 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein.

This price includes the seasonality payment of 5c/L, including VAT. This payment also applies to non-contracted volumes from autumn calving and liquid milk scheme members, Tirlán said.

The seasonality bonus payments apply over the winter months of December, January and February on all non-contracted milk volumes that meet quality criteria. The payment rates for qualified milk volumes are 5c/L for December, 7c/L for January, and 5c/L for February.

The business' milk price will be composed of that seasonality payment, plus the base milk price of 50.58c/L (unchanged from the November price); and a sustainability action payment of 0.5c/L (including VAT) to all qualifying suppliers.

Suppliers to Tirlán are asked to register their sustainability actions on the Tirlán FarmLife website before Friday (January 24) to secure the 0.5c/L payment for 2025.

The base price and sustainability action payment will be adjusted to reflect the actual constituents of milk delivered by suppliers.

The processor said that the actual average payment to suppliers, based on average supplied milk constituents, will be 69.70c/L (including VAT).

Tirlán chairperson John Murphy said: "We are pleased to be in a position to pay a strong milk price this month, with all quality milk supplied in December qualifying for either liquid premium, autumn calving, or unconditional seasonality payments.

"This rewards farmers who are committed to supplying quality milk over the higher-cost winter months," he added.

Commenting on the current state of play in the dairy sector, Murphy said: "Dairy markets ended the year on a solid footing and global dairy market fundamentals remain mostly balanced at the start of 2025.

"As always, there are a number of factors to be closely monitored, including the unfortunate case of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany. The board will continue to monitor the dairy market on a monthly basis," he added.

Murphy encouraged Tirlán suppliers to attend a 2025 market outlook webinar taking place tomorrow (Wednesday, January 22) at 7:30p.m.