Green Pages Feed Trade Topics from the Island of Ireland


LINKAGE OF IRISH AND EUROPEAN FEED QUALITY STANDARDS REINFORCES FARM ASSURED SCHEMES Ireland’s Food Board, Bord Bia, has formally recognised the main European feed quality assured schemes as fully meeting the requirements to supply feed to Bord Bia quality assurance farms. This has been welcomed by the Irish Grain and Feed Association


(IGFA) as making solid commercial sense and will avoid unnecessary duplication and costs. Furthermore, the association of the Bord Bia Feed Assurance scheme with the main European feed standards such as Universal Feed Assurance Scheme (UFAS) GMP+ and QS will have a positive impact on exports of livestock products from Ireland. The UFAS standard covers 700 feed compounders and over 95


per cent of compound feed sold in the UK and Ireland. GMP+ is a Dutch based international feed assurance scheme and QS is the main feed standard that applies in the German market. Accredited feed quality schemes, to ISO17065 standard, have


underpinned for many years the safety of feeds in most EU countries. The certificates which are issued within the framework of these schemes to feed companies are generally declared to be equivalent to each other. This declaration of equivalence is also called mutual recognition. According to IGFA, this mutual recognition system greatly


facilitates trade without the need for duplication of certification. It makes immense practical sense for the Irish feed assurance scheme in Ireland to be fully integrated with this international system as we are a major exporter of meat and dairy products. IGFA also welcomes the fact that Bord Bia will publish the list of


the international feed assurance schemes which they have formally recognised, so that farmers can be fully informed and rely on the quality of the feed they are purchasing from assured feed compounders. However, IGFA is strongly of the view that Bord Bia should publish the list of all Irish accredited feed compounders, both those accredited under the international quality schemes and those approved by Bord Bia. An IGFA spokesperson said: “To some extent Ireland was up to


now not fully part of the international system which made no sense for a major food exporting country. This formal recognition by Bord Bia should strengthen the international recognition of and reliance on the various Bord Bia farm assurance schemes.”


FARMER CONCERN ABOUT GLANBIA FIVE-YEAR SCHEME’S FEED LINK IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Sean O’Leary has said that while the 5-year fixed milk price contract announced by Glanbia is


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another important effort to help farmers manage their milk price risk, giving preferential access based on linkage with feed purchases from the co-op is objectionable to the majority of farmers who had been in touch with him. He said that the IFA has already taken a principled stance against


such a measure on grounds of potential anti-competitiveness, and will meet with Glanbia in the coming days to discuss the new scheme. “Back in 2011, IFA produced Guidelines for Milk Supply


Agreements, and in these guidelines we warned against co-ops mandating “potentially anti-competitive provisions” in their MSAs, including the “requirement to source all inputs/feed from a single source (e.g. the co-op or some other provider)”,” Mr O’Leary said. “The Glanbia farmers on the National Dairy Committee and


other Glanbia suppliers who have contacted us are adamant that they should be able to choose quality feed, much of which is now covered by the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme, from a variety of competitively priced sources, including Glanbia,” he said. “We will therefore urge Glanbia to re-examine this provision in their proposed risk management scheme,” he concluded.


CONNOLLY’S RED MILLS CONFIRM KILKENNY INVESTMENT PLAN Nutritional animal feed company, Connolly’s Red Mills, has announced 20 new jobs for Kilkenny. The jobs boost is created by the official opening of a new equestrian and agri super store in Kilkenny by the Connolly family. Responsible for feeding over one third of the world’s top


racehorses in Europe and Asia, Connolly’s Red Mills now export to 74 countries. The opening was attended by European Commissioner for


Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan and Australian Ambassador to Ireland, Richard Andrews. Since 2015, the global workforce of Connolly’s Red Mills has


increased by 100 jobs. The announcement brings the total employed by the family run business to 320. Run by the fifth generation of the Connolly family, Connolly’s


Red Mills sources up to 50 per cent of its grains locally from South East farmers who they say “grow some of the best oats, barley and wheat in the world”. The products are manufactured from the company’s purpose built headquarters in Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny. CEO of Connolly’s Red Mills, Joe Connolly said: “We remain heavily invested and committed to our home county of Kilkenny.


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