Thursday, 20th


April 2017


info@eastcorkjournal.ie


EAST CORK AGRICULTURE info@eastcorkjournal.ie


New Bord Bia Beef & Lamb Assurance Scheme Must Deliver Improved Price Returns And Be More Farmer Friendly - IFA


IFA President Joe


Healy said the new Bord Bia Sustainable


Beef


and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) must deliver better price re- turns back to farmers and be implemented in a more farmer friendly way. Joe Healy said that as an exporting nation the ‘Origin Green’ Pro- gramme, which is un- derpinned by the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme, is well recog- nised on the global mar- ket. However, he said the real measure of the suc- cess of the scheme will be where Irish beef and


lamb prices are in com- parison to other coun- tries. “Farmers must see a


real price return for the efforts


they are making


in complying with the scheme,” he said. He said, “For farmers, a major improvement in the scheme is the intro- duction of a new close- out period, which will al- low farmers to remain in the scheme provided they remedy any non-compli- ances within one month of their audit. Under the old scheme, farmers with non-compliances could find themselves outside the scheme immediately


after an audit. This is a significant change which was very important to IFA and will make the scheme fairer for farm- ers.” IFA Livestock Chair- man Angus Woods said that


IFA was insisting


that clear protocols are put in place in relation to how auditors interact with farmers at audits. He said there would


be no charge to farmers for the Bord Bia audit as the IFA has secured De- partment of Agriculture funding to cover these costs. He said under the new scheme the average inspection time for an


audit will not increase. In addition, Bord Bia are setting up a new help desk to assist


farmers


with audit issues. IFA National Sheep


Chairman John Lynskey said, “It is well estab- lished in the lamb sector that


there is a 10c/kg


price top up for Quality Assurance lamb. This bonus needs to be in- creased in order to get more sheep farmers to join the scheme.” John Lynskey pointed out that under the new scheme all of the sustainability data is recorded but this is not used to score the applicant at the audit.


Smart Farming Cost Savings Challenge Aims To Identify €250,000 Savings In 2017


Smart Farming, the IFA led cost


savings


programme, will work with more than 1,000 farmers across 50 discus- sion groups, purchasing groups and IFA branch- es in 2017. Farmers who take part in Smart Farming save an average of €5,000 per year, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their farms by 7 to 10%. Speaking at the launch


of the programme, IFA President Joe Healy said, “It is important that we look at costs inside the farm gate, and the fact that this programme en- hances the environment really is a double divi- dend.” The


programme works directly with farm-


ers to develop cost-sav- ing plans, tailored to their farm, and focussed on eight key areas: soil fertility, energy, grass- land, water, feed, inputs & waste, machinery and time management. The


IFA President


explained, “Beginning in April, expert advisors will carry out case stud- ies on 50 farms nation- wide. The actions, re- sults and learnings from these


case studies will


not only help the farm- ers involved to make sig- nificant savings, but will also be communicated through Discussion Groups, allowing more than 1,000 farmers to benefit from the Smart Farming expertise and experience.”


@eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal Smart Farming par-


ticipant William Cassi- dy from Carlow added, “I am taking part in the initiative to find cost savings on my farm and share the ideas with my neighbours. The fact I am also playing my part to improve the environ- ment is great too.” Smart Farming is led


by the IFA and works with the knowledge and expertise


of Teagasc,


EPA, UCD, SEAI, FT- MTA, Fertiliser Associ- ation of Ireland, Irish Grassland Association, and the National Fed- eration of Group Water Schemes. More


21


Deadline Monday at noon


details about


the Smart Farming pro- gramme are available at www.smartfarming.ie


eastcorkjournal


• Smart Farming kicks off on William Cassidy’s farm in Maganey County Carlow (l-r) William Cassidy; IFA President Joe Healy; and, Thomas Cooney, IFA Environment Chairman. (Picture: Finbarr O’Rourke).


Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email: info@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web: www.eastcorkjournal.ie


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