More than 330,000 carbon assessments have taken place on Irish beef and dairy farms, according to latest figures contained in Bord Bia’s 2022 annual report.
The 2022 annual report also detailed that more than “650 farm audits” were delivered each week last year by a team of nearly 100 independent farm auditors as part of the Origin Green programme.
According to Bord Bia, it works with more than 55,000 farms and over 300 Irish food and drink companies through the Origin Green programme.
The latest annual report highlighted that Bord Bia’s “commitment to sustainability, and in particular to the sustainability of the Irish food, drink and horticulture industry, is manifested through the development and continued evolution of the Origin Green programme”.
According to the Irish food board, verified Origin Green members account for 90% of Irish food and drink exports.
In its latest annual report Bord Bia outlines that various schemes have been designed to assess farming practices and record data to “demonstrate the sustainability of Irish farming”.
This in turn, the Irish food board said, provides the “necessary proof” to customers that Irish farm produce has been produced “under sustainability and quality assurance” criteria.
It highlighted in the 2022 annual report, which was submitted to the Houses of the Oireachtas last week (Wednesday, June 28), that across the various producer schemes more than 45,000 audits were completed last year.
This included 31,773 audits carried out against the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Standard (SBLAS) and a further 11,519 against the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Standard (SDAS).
The Irish food board also provided details of the number of members of the various producer schemes in 2022:
Last year Bord Bia also worked with two dairy processors and other key stakeholders to develop custom courses for milk suppliers which are linked to the processor’s sustainability bonus schemes.
The courses, which were available from quarter one of this year, 2023, cover topics including water quality and farm emissions.
The Irish food board also detailed in its latest annual report that work had got underway on the development of Animal Welfare and Farmland Pollinator modules in conjunction with Animal Health Ireland and the National Biodiversity Centre of Ireland, which are set for launch in quarter two of 2023.
There is also a mandatory carbon emissions target for Origin Green members with a turnover greater than €50 million.
During 2022, 34 Origin Green member companies developed carbon emission targets for the annual review period according to the Irish food board.
Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Origin Green programme and according to Bord Bia, its objective for the next 10 years is to “capture value in the market by building on Ireland’s strength in sustainability”.
“Origin Green remains the world’s only national food and drink sustainability programme that drives sustainability improvements across the entire supply chain on a national level,” Bord Bia claimed in its 2022 annual report.