Bord Bia has asked farmers to rate their trust in Irish farm organisations – including Bord Bia itself – as part of an ongoing survey.
According to a spokesperson for the Irish food board, the “overall purpose of the survey is to inform Bord Bia of farmers’ preferences, practices and opinions on a range of farming issues with a particular focus on sustainability and efficiency measures”.
A number of farm organisations and bodies are named in the survey, the representative noted.
- Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine;
- Beef Plan Movement;
- Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF);
- Irish Cattle and Sheep Association (ICSA);
- Bord Bia;
- Teagasc;
- Irish Farmers Association (IFA);
- ICMSA;
- Cooperatives.
“One question, from over 39 questions in the survey, aims to gauge farmers’ level of trust in Bord Bia.
“To make this data meaningful it is important to establish how Bord Bia performs relative to other farming organisations and bodies.
“As farming comes under increasing pressure to implement sustainability measures, Bord Bia wish to understand which practices are widely adopted and which practices farmers may need support in implementing,” it was added.
The reported data will help Bord Bia identify areas for improvement in terms of how we engage with farmers and ensure we deliver relevant services for farmers as efficiently and effectively as possible.
In terms of the manner in which the survey was conducted among farmers, the spokesperson said:
“During the [Bord Bia] audit, farmers may consent to be contacted by Bord Bia via email or SMS in relation to farming industry news, information or events.
“Bord Bia has sent the survey to all farmers who have consented to be contacted in this way.
“Bord Bia also wishes to gather responses from non-members; therefore the survey was promoted online for 10 days in July.
The information is being gathered by our research partner, Opinions, and will be reported to Bord Bia on an aggregate basis ensuring anonymity for all respondents.
“Bord Bia appreciate the time given by all respondents so far in completing this survey. All the data obtained will be for internal Bord Bia use only and cannot be reported externally,” the spokesperson concluded.