The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has been notified that further cuts to milk prices will occur, with it warning of an "extremely difficult" time for farmers.
The union said that milk price drops had been announced by some dairy processors, with "others expected to follow suite".
It warned that incomes for dairy farming families in Northern Ireland would "take a significant hit, affecting the business and the home".
On top of this, dairy farmers had "now lost the confidence" to invest in their farm and to push on with developments to become more efficient and sustainable.
The UFU said money was needed to support these types of endeavours on farm, which required financial backing from banks.
"The dairy processors were frank about milk price cuts during meetings at the Balmoral Show," said UFU deputy president, William Irvine.
"The news cast a nervousness among dairy farmers at the show and has plummeted their farm business into a great deal of uncertainty.
"It seems to have been forgotten that farmers are dealing with the cost-of-living crisis and food inflation like everyone else."
Mr Irvine added that it was 'vital' for banks to engage with dairy processors and to gain an outlook as to where this situation was likely to go.
“In the meantime, we encourage farmers to shop around when buying inputs and focus on margin per cow," he explained.
"Global markets would indicate that markets are slowly beginning to stabilise and processors are projecting improvement for quarter four of 2023.”
