Average Farmgate Price

• There was a 4.6% fall in the average UK farmgate price between March and April, to 23.26ppl.
• This is also 6.8% below the average price of 24.95ppl in April 08.
• In NI, the average price increased by 1.4% to 17.97ppl.
• The average GB farmgate price in April stood at 24.18ppl, 6.21ppl (34.6%) more than the average NI price.

The latest Defra farmgate price information continues to show a month-on-month decline in 2009, due to the various price cuts enforced by dairy processors and co-ops over the first few months of the year. It fell by 1.11ppl (4.6%) from March, to a provisional 23.26ppl in April, which is also 1.69ppl (6.8%) below the average price in April 08.

Prices in GB showed a similar trend, with the average price falling by 1.32ppl (5.2%) over the period, to 24.18ppl. Annually, the price has dropped by 1.25ppl (4.9%) from 25.43ppl in April 08.

There was a 1.4% (0.24ppl) increase in the NI farmgate price between March and April, to an average of 17.97ppl. This is 4.34ppl (19.5%) below the average 22.31ppl price in April 08.

This means that the gap between the GB and the NI farmgate price stands at 6.21ppl (34.6%).

For more information on UK, GB and Northern Ireland prices click here.

Farmgate Prices

	UK		GB		NI
ppl	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009
Jan	25.81	25.56	25.76	26.84	26.12	17.64
Feb	25.62	24.68	25.82	25.77	24.47	18.11
Mar	25.73	24.37	26.05	25.50	23.93	17.73
Apr	24.95	23.26	25.43	24.18	22.31	17.97
May	24.49		25.05		21.63
Jun	25.00		25.55		22.16
Jul	25.82		26.36		22.94
Aug	26.29		26.72		23.75
Sep	27.00		27.41		24.44
Oct	27.36		27.93		23.60
Nov	27.08		27.97		21.28
Dec	26.36		27.58		18.59
Average	25.91		26.43		22.92

Sources: Defra, DARD & DairyCo

Average Yearly Farmgate Prices

Yearly data shows that the average UK farmgate milk price has increased by 5.25ppl (25.4%) between 2007 and 2008 to 25.91ppl. In the same period the GB average price increased by 29.1% (5.96ppl) to 26.43ppl, while the Northern Ireland (NI) price saw an increase of 5.2% - 1.14ppl to an average of 22.92ppl.

Note: In Northern Ireland a larger proportion of milk goes into commodity markets and therefore the NI price tends to reflect the rises and falls in the commodity markets more than GB. For more information on commodity prices click here.

PPL	UK	GB	NI
2002	17.05	17.23	15.85
2003	18.01	18.02	18.00
2004	18.45	18.48	18.26
2005	18.46	18.55	17.89
2006	17.94	18.13	16.75
2007	20.66	20.47	21.78
2008	25.91	26.43	22.92

Sources: Defra, DARD & DairyCo

The UK average milk producer price is collected by Defra. Milk purchasers provide details of how much they have paid farmers for milk (excluding any delivery and administration charges) and the volume of milk they have purchased. From these figures an average price per litre (which includes seasonality) can be derived. NI data is collected by DARD.