The awards are being issued to the highest achievers in the ABP Beef Benchmark Report, with seven awards for 2023 and seven awards for 2024. Each award goes to the highest achiever across all seven Irish ABP Food Group cattle processing sites.

The ABP Beef Benchmark Report was launched in 2022 in collaboration with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

The seven awards up for grabs for both 2023 and 2024 are as follows:

Suckler-beef steer category;
Suckler-beef heifer category;
Suckler young bull category;
Dairy-beef steer category;
Dairy steer category;
Dairy-beef bull category.
Dairy-beef heifer category.

The two ABP Slaney supplier award winners announced this week were: Michael Doyle, who won the Suckler-beef steer category award for 2023; and Matthew and Genevieve Creane, who won the Suckler young bull category.

The ABP Slaney event is the first of a series of ABP factory tours taking place this autumn.

The tours allow ABP suppliers an opportunity to visit the factory and get a full overview of the production line from start to finish.

At this week's ABP Slaney factory tour, farmers got an insight into all aspects of the beef processing environment.

There was a demonstration in the de-boning hall of the different grades of cattle and how grades, carcass weights, and fat scores impact beef cuts.

Farmers on the visit also got a tour of the abattoir as well as the lairage and cattle intake.

Commenting on the event, ABP Slaney procurement manager Eamonn Moulds said: "ABP Slaney recently welcomed a group of local suppliers to the site for a comprehensive tour of the facilities.

"The suppliers took part in a guided tour of the facility, gaining an insight of the production process and learning about the stages involved in delivering our products to the customers that we serve.

"ABP believes it is important to acknowledge suppliers who are performing at a high level of efficiency with a reduced carbon footprint, and the beef benchmark awards aim to acknowledge these farmers and their families.

The ABP Beef Benchmark Report compares the carcass performance of each animal type, such as suckler steers, dairy-beef heifers, etc.

Their performance is then benchmarked on carcass conformation, weight, fat, age, and greenhouse gas (GHG) output against the national average and top 10%.

The report is available to all ABP suppliers under the ‘reports’ tab on their ICBF portal for cattle slaughtered from 2022 onwards

The report gives farmers a summery of the animals slaughtered within each animal type, with a focus on the key performance indicators (KPIs) such as carcass weight, conformation, and age at slaughter.

It also allows farmers to compare their herd to national average figures and the top 10%.