Ornua, formerly the Irish Dairy Board, has revealed it paid a total of €9 million to its top nine executives over 2014 and 2015.
The figures are published for the first time in the company's annual report today.
The report also showed that the amount it paid in directors' fees increased by 44% over the past two years.
Ornua Chief Executive Kevin Lane said the company published the figures in the interest of full transparency and that the payments had been benchmarked against industry peers.
Ornua is the country's biggest exporter of dairy products and it has reported earnings before exceptional items of €58.8m for last year, an increase of 18% on the previous year's numbers.
Pat McCormack, deputy President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, said dairy farmers will find the figures extremely unpalatable,
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Mr McCormack said that transparency is welcome but the figures represent a far cry from the reality of dairy farmers.
He said: "Irish dairy farmers are struggling to break even. We will be watching what Ornua is doing for 2016 to provide stability and some sort of income for the primary producer."
He called on Ornua to add further support to dairy farmers.
Analysis: George Lee Agriculture Correspondent
Irish dairy farmers are experiencing a difficult time, with their incomes down very substantially as a result of collapsing global milk prices.
Farmers rely on and pay a levy to Ornua to develop markets abroad for Ireland's extra milk production.
Although Ornua continues to deliver well on that front there is no doubt that many farmers will be struck by the high salary levels indicated in today's annual report.
Only yesterday, the Irish Farmers' Association elected a new farm leader, Joe Healy, after five months of total uproar and disgust among farmers over revelations the IFA General Secretary Pat Smith was paid as much as €540,000 in one year.
The Ornua report also reveals that the company paid over €500,000 in fees to its 14 directors last year, a 44% increase on the amount paid two years ago.
