Kerry Dairy Ireland (KDI) has confirmed the milk price it will pay for supplies in April.

The processor has opted to hold its price, confirming an offering of 37.5c/L.

The price includes VAT, and quality and sustainability bonuses.

KDI said that, based on its average milk solids for April, the milk price return, including VAT and quality and sustainability bonuses, will be 40.93c/L.

The processor said: "Global milk supplies remain relatively strong with commodity markets remaining stable despite the ongoing geopolitical risk and uncertainty."

Lakeland milk price

KDI's milk price announcement follows on from Lakeland Dairies confirming its milk price for April this week.

Lakeland announced that its board has agreed on an increased milk price, boosting its offering by 0.75c/L.

This will result in a base price of 37c/L at constituents of 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein, to be paid for milk supplied from the Republic of Ireland.

This price is inclusive of the 0.5c/L Sustainability Incentive Payment.

In Northern Ireland, a base price of 29.60p/L will be paid for April milk, which is an increase of 0.75p/L.

The Northern Ireland price also includes the Sustainability Incentive Payment.

Lakeland said that, generally, the market remains similar to last month, as global supply continues to outpace demand and ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to bring uncertainty.

"Positively, powder markets have strengthened over the last month, but have been somewhat offset by weaker returns from butter and other fat products," the processor said in statement.

Lakeland Dairies said it will continue to monitor the markets and will "endeavour to support our farmers with the best milk price possible in line with market conditions".

Dairy cow numbers

In other dairy sector news, the number of dairy cows in Ireland rose by 0.6% to over 1.49 million in the year to December 2025.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the total number of cattle decreased by 24,200 to 6.28 million (-0.4%).

While the number of dairy cows rose, the number of other cows dropped by 2.2% to 750,600.

In terms of dairy cows, Co. Cork (352,700) has more than either the northern and western region (179,000) or eastern and midland region (268,600).