Increased investment and methane mitigation among key actions in new charter for Irish beef

Increased investment, enhanced reporting and the implementation of methane mitigating breeding strategies are among the key priorities identified for beef producers in a new sustainability charter published by Meat Industry Ireland (MII).

The Charter for Sustainable Irish Beef has been signed up to by the beef producing members of MII, the Ibec sector association representing primary beef, pork and lamb processing facilities. It was officially launched by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.

Those MII members who have signed up to the charter include ABP, Ashbourne Meat Processors, Dawn Meats, Euro Farm Foods, Foyle Food Group, Kepak, Liffey Meats and Moyvalley Meats.

The charter commits the country’s leading beef processors to accelerate the decarbonisation of beef production and encourage best practice among their suppliers. 

It also requires them to protect the natural environment and deliver broad-based benefits for society, while remaining profitable, maintaining livelihoods and enhancing food security.

The charter outlines a series of priority actions in areas, such as environmental stewardship, animal care, supply chain resilience, health and nutrition, and sustainability. It also details the metrics that should be used to measure, validate and record progress.

The priority actions in the Charter for Sustainable Irish Beef include:

• Encouraging the earlier finishing of prime cattle with the aim of delivering on the target of an average slaughter age of 22-23 months by 2030.
• Working with suppliers to implement methane mitigating breeding strategies for cattle from both beef and dairy herds.
• Encouraging suppliers to adopt management measures that reduce greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, including reduced chemical nitrogen, a switch to protected urea, low emissions slurry spreading and enhanced incorporation of clover and multi-species swards.
• Supporting the reduction of carbon emissions at individual farm and animal level.
• Ongoing investment in knowledge transfer initiatives through advisory partnerships, demonstration farms and in-house agriculture teams.
• A commitment to science-based targets, data capture and measurement systems to allow the beef sector to track and transparently report progress.
• Playing a more proactive role in renewable energy generation through solar, wind and anaerobic digestion.
• The ongoing provision of targeted financial supports to assist with the decarbonisation of processing and technology adoption at farm level.
• Water quality training and action plans for beef suppliers in priority areas.
• Wastewater treatment systems that consistently meet or exceed water quality standards.
• Maintaining space for nature on livestock farms.
• Increased implementation of breeding practices to boost the quality of calves from the dairy herd for beef production.

The charter is published as a new report outlines the progress made by MII members since the publication of the Irish Beef Sector Sustainability Progress to Date and Roadmap to 2030 in February 2023.

The Sustainability Progress Report shows that MII members have invested almost €200 million in sustainability initiatives at processing and farm level since 2015. It also shows a reduction in absolute emissions in the beef sector of 4%, a 13% drop in the rolling three-year average beef carbon footprint and a lowering of the average finishing age for prime cattle to 25.8 months, a reduction of 0.6 months. 

The beef sector remains a mainstay in rural communities with 90,000 farm families and 25,000 jobs supported. The Irish beef sector has successfully built an internationally renowned reputation as a supplier of high-quality, grass-fed beef to more than 75 markets globally, contributing to food security in Ireland and beyond.

Minister McConalogue said: “I am committed to working with farmers on their sustainability journey – this is why Government has provided the largest ever amount of co-funding for a CAP Programme, which will see some €10 billion invested in Irish farming by the end of 2027.

“In Budget 2025 I secured additional funding to support our livestock sectors, increasing my Departments allocation by 8% on last year. This budget contains measures that will directly benefit the beef sector, including increased payments under a National Beef Welfare Scheme. 

"When this scheme is combined with the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) the total payment available to suckler farmers per cow and calf pair will be €225 in 2025.

“I believe the Charter for Sustainable Irish Beef can play a vital role in complementing these measures and driving meaningful progress on sustainability benefitting farmers, processors, consumers and wider rural communities.” 

Dale Crammond, Director of Meat Industry Ireland, said: “The beef sector is committed to accelerating the sustainability progress made to date through a focus on delivering measurable impacts across clearly identified priority areas. This aligns with the direction of the National Climate Action Plan and increasingly, marketplace requirements, as leading customers commit to more sustainable value chains over the longer term."

"The charter seeks to articulate and serve as a guide to the sustainability ambitions of the Irish beef sector to consistently deliver best practice in managing the natural environment, enhancing rural communities and supporting livelihoods.

“Delivering on the charter will require significant, ongoing efforts by all stakeholders, including processors and their suppliers. It is also vital that progress is tracked and that is why the charter contains a requirement to report annually and transparently across a range of environmental, social and economic measures."