Farm Sustainability Learning Hub Series in association with Bord Bia
Bord Bia is supporting Irish farmers to adopt best-practice farm sustainability through online training.
The Farm Sustainability Learning Hub is freely available to members of the Sustainable Assurance Schemes for beef, lamb, dairy, pigmeat and horticulture.
The optional modules have been developed with industry experts, including Teagasc, to simplify the actions that farmers can take to become more environmentally and economically sustainable.
Deirdre Ryan, director of Origin Green and Quality Assurance explains: “Irish farmers have already begun the journey towards improved farm sustainability, as evidenced by the sustained reduction in carbon intensity on member farms since Bord Bia commenced carbon footprinting beef and dairy farms in 2011.
“However, we know through surveying farmers that the majority would welcome guidance on how to improve their farm’s environmental sustainability further.
“The learning hub has been designed to fill this knowledge gap and support farmers on their path to improved farm sustainability.”
Seven modules are currently available, and the library of modules will continue to grow over time.
Certified members of Bord Bia can access the modules online at farm.bordbia.ie. All modules are free and can be completed in 30 minutes or less.
How to get started
Step 1:
Visit farm.bordbia.ie and click on Farm Sustainability Learning Hub. You will be asked to enter your herd number and the pin number you received at your last audit. If you do not know this, there is a ‘forgot pin’ option that will text the pin to your mobile phone.
Step 2:
You will be taken to the dashboard of the Farm Sustainability Learning Hub. This page will display the courses you have enrolled in and completed.
Step 3:
You can choose which course to begin by clicking the green tab (click here to view courses) or the top left red tab to toggle from dashboard to catalogue. You’ll be shown the list of courses and can begin them immediately.
You can exit and resume at any stages during the course and your progress will be saved (be sure to click ‘save and exit’ in the top-right corner).
The courses
Each module includes a mixture of videos, interactive slides, and questions to test your learning. For accessibility, closed-caption subtitles are available for every video.
At each stage there is a help button to show you how to navigate between slides. You can move forward or back through each slide using ‘next’ or ‘previous’, or by clicking the menu button to move between chapters in the module.
When you get to the end of the module, you are given a completion rate. If this is less than 100% you may have missed videos or slides. You can navigate back through the slides or save and exit to return to the course later. You must complete at least 80% to mark completion.
Once you have completed each course you are invited to review and leave comments or recommendations. Your feedback is appreciated.