Ulster Bank tells farmers to plan for 22c average for milk in 2016

Ulster Bank has advised dairy farmers to assume a base milk price of 22 cent per litre, plus VAT and constituent bonuses, in their 2016 cash flow budgets.

The bank’s senior agricultural manager, Dr Ailish Byrne, said: “We do not know that milk prices will fall to that level, but we would hope that this was the bottom of the cycle.

"We are asking farmers to prepare for a worst-case scenario and to look for support at that level for a full 12 months.”