Tirlán Co-op has confirmed that €5.9 million will be paid to 4,500 farmers as part of the 2024 Trading Bonus Scheme.

As previously reported, over €3.2 million will be paid out to milk suppliers who qualified for the trading bonus.

The January milk payment for over 2,100 Tirlán milk suppliers will include a trading bonus payment of 0.25c/L or an average of almost €1,500 per supplier.

Under the scheme, Tirlán said that over €360,000 will issue to drystock farmers through the feed bonuses.

A payment of €1.37 million is currently being paid to grain suppliers, with an estimated further €900,000 to issue in the summer months for dried grain supplies.

"The trading bonus rewards farmers for trading with their own business,” John Murphy, Tirlán chair, said.

In December, Tirlán announced details of the 2025 Trading Bonus Scheme, which it described as "an evolution" of the scheme that has operated since 2018.

While the grain and beef and sheep feed schemes are similar to previous years, there will be a change the focus of the milk supplier element of the trading bonus to help farmers "drive milk solids production".“Data from our new milk solids tracker has highlighted the importance of adequate feeding in the spring to improve milk solids production and set herds up for good full season performance.

"In response, we have reshaped the dairy element of the trading bonus scheme to focus on driving milk solids production through peak," John Murphy said.

In 2025, Tirlán said a dairy feed bonus of €30/t will be available on purchases of GAIN dairy feed made between January 1 and April 30, subject to an overall maximum quantity of 110,000t.

In addition, a calf milk replacer bonus payment of €60/t will be available for purchases of GAIN calf milk replacer during the same period, subject to an overall maximum of 2,000t.

The 2025 Dairy Feed Bonus and Calf Milk Replacer Bonus, which replace the Milk Trading Bonus paid from 2018 to 2024, will be paid into milk suppliers’ trading accounts at the end of quarter 2 (Q2), 2025.

There will be no trading bonus paid in quarter one of 2026 linked to 2025 milk supply volumes.

The Grain Trading Bonus will continue to offer a payment of up to €10/t of grain supplied for input purchases of greater than €60/t in 2025 from Tirlán.

A bonus rate of €7.50/t will apply for input purchases of between €50-€60/t, while a rate of €5/t will apply for input spend of €40-€50/t.

Tirlán said that the payments apply to both green and dried grain supplies from harvest 2025.

Beef and sheep farmer customers of Tirlán who are co-op members will qualify for a feed bonus on their tonnes purchased throughout the full year of 2025.

For non-milk suppliers, the 2025 Beef and Sheep Feed Trading Bonus will be €10/t of beef and sheep feed products purchased from Tirlán.

For non-milk suppliers, the 2025 Feed Trading Bonus will be €3/t for straights.

The co-op noted that the feed trading bonus is not open to dairy feed purchases or to milk suppliers.