The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has said that the March base milk price must be in excess of 50c/L.

Chair of the ICMSA's Dairy Committee Noel Murphy made the comment as dairy farmers await the third round of milk price announcements from processors.

Murphy also called for a reversal of cuts made to the February milk price.

"The fact that only two processors cut – and those were the first two to announce their prices - showed that the other co-ops were correct in their decision not to act prematurely and to read the market more accurately," he claimed.

Murphy said that the market was and is "in a positive place" and "the justification to cut appears to have been based on reductions to spot prices".

He said that those February spot reductions been reversed, and prices have improved for butter, skim milk powder (SMP), and whole milk powder (WMP) during March.

The ICMSA Dairy Committee chair said that the market for milk is returning anywhere from 49.5c/L to 51.5c/L, "so there is no need for a base price below this point".

Murphy also said that March is "a critical month" in what he described as “the camouflage” of seasonal bonuses disappears in most co-ops.

"This is precisely why ICMSA always stressed base price as the ultimate indicator and farmers will be able to see with absolute clarity where their own processor stands in the real league.

"There’s a long way to go before we see the true implications of the US imposition of swingeing tariffs, and it’s not wise or prudent to anticipate or even guess what’s going to happen in the coming months," he said.

"The global milk market is a good position and with weather doing its best to drive on production across the country, those setting the price should be looking to sunnier days too.

"There’s an unanswerable case to reverse the cuts to February milk price and deliver market returns in excess of 50cpl base price," Murphy added.