Bord Bia is teaming up with a number of farm organisations over the coming months to support farmers in the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS) preparation for their on-farm audits.

This follows the roll-out of an e-learning portal last year which provides dairy farmers with the key points to address when preparing for these audits, which are a vital component of Ireland’s national food sustainability programme.

Origin Green personnel will be on hand before and after local farm organisation meetings to address individual farmer enquiries around SDAS.

The meetings, which began earlier this month, will continue into early next year before calving starts.

Upcoming Meeting Dates with ICMSA are as follows:
  • November 22 , 8.30pm: Kilkenny, The Springhill Court, Kilkenny;
  • November 26, 8:30pm: Cork North, The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Co. Cork;
  • November 27, 8:30pm: Cork West, The Parkway, Dunmanway, Co. Cork;
  • November 28, 8:30pm: Kerry, Meadowland, Tralee, Co. Kerry.

President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) Pat McCormack welcomed the participation of Bord Bia at local meetings: “Based on queries and concerns from members, ICMSA is happy to host Bord Bia at our local meetings in the coming months.

This provides an opportunity to our members to engage directly with Bord Bia at a personal level and set out their questions and concerns in relation to Bord Bia audits and SDAS.

Mick Houlihan, manager of Bord Bia’s Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme said: “Bord Bia is grateful for the opportunity to participate at the regional meetings.

“Working directly with farm organisations and engaging face-to-face at farm walks and local meetings gives us a great opportunity to explain to dairy farmers how the success of SDAS and Origin Green is making an impact in growing Irish food and drink exports.

“We are taking every opportunity to support farmers to make a success of their membership of SDAS, through meetings like these, farm walks, helpdesk support and our e-learning portal.”

A statement from Bord Bia explained that SDAS aims to provide the assurance to food buyers that the dairy products they purchase meet Ireland’s claims around quality and sustainability and are helping to win a premium position on retail shelves.

This independently audited scheme was developed in partnership with producers, processors and Government and is positively impacting on how Bord Bia markets and promotes Irish dairy exports.