Ireland Cattle Price

Milk Price Watch — Co-op Prices Compared

May 2026 supplies · Updated monthly as co-ops announce · Last checked 12 July 2026

Every month the co-ops announce a milk price, and every co-op announces it a different way. One quotes with VAT, one without. One buries the bonuses in the headline number, another strips them out. One quotes at Irish standard constituents, another leads with the EU standard figure that reads four cent higher for the same litre. The result: a farmer can't put two headline numbers side by side and know who actually pays more. That suits everyone except the farmer. This page puts them on one table, like with like, and marks the gaps plainly.

May 2026 — quoted milk price, standard constituents

All figures are the co-op's quoted price for May supplies at Irish standard constituents (3.3% protein, 3.6% butterfat), including VAT, cent per litre. "Bonuses in" means quality/sustainability payments are inside the headline figure.

How to read a milk price — the four tricks in every headline number

1. Constituents. Milk is paid on solids — protein and butterfat — not on water. The Irish standard quote assumes 3.3% protein and 3.6% butterfat. The EU standard assumes 3.4% and 4.2%. Same litre of milk, but the EU-standard number reads roughly 4c/L higher. Dairygold's May quote is 37.5c at Irish standard and 41.2c at EU standard — identical money. If one co-op leads with the EU figure and another leads with the Irish figure, the comparison is fiction until you put them on the same basis.

2. VAT. Most co-op announcements include flat-rate VAT; the Agriland/ICMSA tracker strips it out. A VAT-inclusive number always beats a VAT-exclusive one on paper. Check before comparing.

3. Bonuses. Somatic cell count bonuses, sustainability payments, stability funds, retrospective top-ups — some co-ops fold them into the headline, some list them separately, and not every farmer qualifies for every one. A headline that includes a conditional bonus you don't get is not your price.

4. Your solids. The quoted price is for standard milk. Your actual cheque reflects your herd's protein and fat. That's why Tirlán's quoted 37.58c became an actual average of 42.01c paid for May creamery milk — delivered constituents ran well above standard in peak season. Two farmers supplying the same co-op can be 4c/L apart on the same month, legitimately.

None of this is illegal and none of it is new. But it means the only honest comparison is base price, same constituents, same VAT treatment, bonuses declared — which is what this page does, and what we'll keep doing every month. The same rule we apply to beef quotes applies here: when farmers can see the whole board, the game changes.

Sources

Irish Examiner — Milk prices for May confirmed by Co-ops (22 June 2026): Dairygold, Kinisla, Carbery, Tirlán figures and constituents.
Agriland — Lakeland Dairies announces milk price for May with 0.5c/L increase (June 2026).
Irish Farmers Journal — Tirlán sets milk price for three months and pays top-up (18 June 2026).
Agriland/ICMSA Milk Price Tracker — April supplies (3 June 2026): tracker method, April movements, bonus schedules.

Milk Price Watch is compiled by IrelandCattlePrice.com from co-op announcements and published trade reports. Prices are for general guidance — always confirm with your co-op. Spot an error or have a verified figure we're missing? Tell us — that's how the gaps close.