Kerry Group has announced that it will pay suppliers a 0.95c/l, excluding VAT, top-up for milk supplied for the second half of 2023.

For a typical 100-cow dairy farmer delivering 500,000 litres of milk, with around 40% delivered between July and December, the payment will equate to around €1,900 per supplier.

The payment will be made on Friday 5 January.

Milk price

Last month, Kerry set a base price of 30.47c/l, excluding VAT, for milk supplied in November.

“Sentiment with regard to dairy commodities remains tentatively positive for 2024 as a turbulent 2023 comes to a close,” a spokesperson said.

“The questions around the robustness of the market fundamentals underpinning that positivity still remain and underscore the evident uncertainty,” they added.

Meanwhile, Kerry Co-op is currently surveying its members on their future milk supply plans. It has 2,900 members.

Former chair Denis Carroll said that the survey is “an important listening and fact-validation exercise” for some options which are being reviewed by the co-op.