ABP has not yet explored the potential to provide a bonus for sustainably reared and finished cattle, at a national level, according to its sustainability manager Stephen Connolly.
Connolly said the beef processor will, however, get behind the measures the industry comes up with to drive down emissions from the beef herd.
“If you look at a national level, it’s something that us personally, we haven’t looked at but on an industry level we will be behind whatever we think is the right thing to do to help [agriculture] meet our climate targets,” he said.
The ABP representative was speaking at a Teagasc Signpost webinar on Friday.
Age limits
On what sort of climate measures ABP could “get behind”, Connolly described the processor’s moves towards stricter age limits on finished cattle.
For a suckler-bred steer, ABP is working towards a 28-month age limit, 26 months for dairy-bred steers, 24 months for dairy-bred heifers and 26 months for suckler heifers in its Advantage Beef Programme.
“The reason why we did that, if you look at the Teagasc Grange research, they’re showing that a 28-month steer on a grass-based system can be as carbon-efficient.
“If we could bring our 30-month cattle to 28, it’s all about incremental gains irrespective of what farming system that you’re in,” he added.
Farmer benefit
Connolly was unable to specify if Irish farmers see a price benefit from the sustainable reputation ABP uses when it sells beef in international markets.
However, he highlighted that as 90% of Irish beef is exported, “anything that we can do to give us that competitive advantage will have a benefit”.
ABP sustainability manager Stephen Connelly joined a Teagasc webinar on Friday. \ Andy Gibson.
“It has had a huge advantage for us getting into markets and staying in markets, that they choose Irish beef over other parts of the world,” he said.
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ABP has not yet explored the potential to provide a bonus for sustainably reared and finished cattle, at a national level, according to its sustainability manager Stephen Connolly.
Connolly said the beef processor will, however, get behind the measures the industry comes up with to drive down emissions from the beef herd.
“If you look at a national level, it’s something that us personally, we haven’t looked at but on an industry level we will be behind whatever we think is the right thing to do to help [agriculture] meet our climate targets,” he said.
The ABP representative was speaking at a Teagasc Signpost webinar on Friday.
Age limits
On what sort of climate measures ABP could “get behind”, Connolly described the processor’s moves towards stricter age limits on finished cattle.
For a suckler-bred steer, ABP is working towards a 28-month age limit, 26 months for dairy-bred steers, 24 months for dairy-bred heifers and 26 months for suckler heifers in its Advantage Beef Programme.
“The reason why we did that, if you look at the Teagasc Grange research, they’re showing that a 28-month steer on a grass-based system can be as carbon-efficient.
“If we could bring our 30-month cattle to 28, it’s all about incremental gains irrespective of what farming system that you’re in,” he added.
Farmer benefit
Connolly was unable to specify if Irish farmers see a price benefit from the sustainable reputation ABP uses when it sells beef in international markets.
However, he highlighted that as 90% of Irish beef is exported, “anything that we can do to give us that competitive advantage will have a benefit”.
ABP sustainability manager Stephen Connelly joined a Teagasc webinar on Friday. \ Andy Gibson.
“It has had a huge advantage for us getting into markets and staying in markets, that they choose Irish beef over other parts of the world,” he said.
Read more
Strike disrupts cattle and sheep kill
Feedlots filling factory lairages
Goodmans' €5.3m payday from Slaney and Irish Country Meats
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