Grain trade has increased on a global scale from 1921 to 2021 to almost 600 million tonnes per year, according to the Irish Grain Assurance Scheme (IGAS).
The scheme is unique in Europe as the most comprehensive system of grain traceability with 90% of all traded grain in the country covered by the IGAS.
Owned by the Cereal Association of Ireland (CAI) and operated by CropSure Ltd., the IGAS is the accepted standard for production, transport, handling and storage of the Irish cereal crop.
The IGAS is required by the brewing and distilling industry; flour millers; oatflake manufacturers; animal feed manufacturers; pea processors; grassmeal manufacturers; and Irish seed assemblers.
Grain scheme
The IGAS standard has recently been benchmarked to the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform Farm Sustainability Assessment version 3.0 (FSA 3.0).
The scheme achieved a benchmark banding result of Gold for the Standard + European Union legislation combined benchmark.
The IGAS is the first grain assurance scheme in the world to achieve the gold standard.
This is extremely important to the drinks and food industries for marketing products derived from Irish grain, and in gaining added value for Irish grain in the animal feed industry.
To achieve this result, the IGAS benchmark has been updated to capture further depth and robustness regarding:
- Conservation and habitat management;
- Waste management;
- Prevention of crop residues to landfill;
- Sustainable energy acquisition; and
- Greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
The SAI platform is the globally recognised sustainability standard for all crops in all countries. It is the standard required by the biggest brewers, distillers, and food companies in the world.
The CAI is an umbrella group for all interested parties in the production, processing and marketing of grain in the Republic of Ireland.
These parties include the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Teagasc, the Irish Grain and Feed Association (IGFA), and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
IGAS
Established in 2002, the IGAS previously achieved silver status in 2018 and is accepted as the minimum supply standard by Universal Feed Assurance Scheme (UFAS) and Bord Bia.
Over 1,000 audits are conducted under the scheme every year (only applies to traded grain). It has 4,000 members across three categories – green growers, storage growers and merchants.
Quality assurance manager at Irish Distillers, Sheila Kenny said: “As proud partners of the IGAS, we extend our congratulations on the achievement of gold status from the SAI.
“This status is awarded to best-in-class [programmes] which capture sustainable practice on Irish farms.
“As part of our sustainability and responsibility commitments at Irish Distillers, we rely on standards such as IGAS when sourcing barley for our widely loved whiskeys.
“As we evolve and improve our standards even further, we are championing Irish growers and supporting schemes such as IGAS right along the way,” she said.