Mr. Martin Ryan:

I thank the members for inviting us and for the opportunity to contribute to their deliberations on the future of the beef sector. Both Glanbia Ireland and Kepak are delighted to share details with the committee of our collaborative innovation for calf to beef production, the Twenty20 Beef Club. Both companies have worked together to develop a solution that will bring certainty for farm families involved in the production of beef calves, in response to trends in the national herd. This innovation was built with the benefit of Glanbia Ireland's experience in fixed milk price schemes and low-cost finance products, such as MilkFlex and FundEquip, and with Kepak's track record in developing clubs such as the KK club and the Angus producer group. The Twenty20 Beef Club affords members a guaranteed market for their heifers and steers from the time they enter them in the club through a guaranteed pricing formula that will apply at the time of slaughter. In addition, it delivers a production blueprint supported by safe and secure high-quality farm inputs and leading edge technical advice.

For Kepak customers and consumers, the Twenty20 Beef Club will provide a secure and predictable supply of high-quality beef with unrivalled input traceability and provenance through the attributes of a closed loop supply chain. The closed loop assurance includes nutritional products, non-prescription animal health products and fertiliser, sourced and supplied by Glanbia Ireland. From a consumer perspective, this provides absolute traceability regarding key inputs and is the genesis of our ability to pay a very significant club premium. The first year of the programme is a pilot phase during which 6,000 calves will be enrolled on Glanbia Ireland and Kepak supplier farms throughout the Republic of Ireland. Numbers will increase to 20,000 in year 2, with a target of 50,000 from year 3 and subsequent years.

The Twenty20 Beef Club was developed to bring greater certainty and predictability to beef production for all stakeholders in the industry. Some of the benefits are a guaranteed market for club cattle, a predictable pricing structure, targeted reduction in the age at slaughter, management of nutrition, a technical support programme to assist members achieve output targets, targeted improvement in eating quality and environmental management, an advance payment mechanism to support cashflow, and full and final payment on the day of slaughter. The primary objective is to create a new end-to-end model for sustainable beef production. It is anchored in the market. It is farmer-centric and built on a collaborative partnership between two industry leaders. This approach enables Kepak to deliver a premium for farmers from the market.

A key feature of the Twenty20 Beef Club offering is that members can benefit from an optional advance payment package of up to €770 per animal to provide cashflow during the animal's lifetime, which offers farmers a more stable income from beef production. This will be administered and payable upon credit approval by Finance Ireland. Members have the option of selecting a monthly payment per animal of €25 or €35 per head at an APR of 3.9%. Payment can be made from month 3 to month 24, and up to 90% of a club member's registered cattle can qualify. During the pilot phase, the advance payment package is supported by Glanbia Co-op. It is the intention that this finance package will be available to all credit-approved club members after the pilot stage is completed.

I now hand over to Mr. O'Dowd, who will continue the statement.