Mr. Mick O'Dowd:

The Twenty20 Beef Club will be open to dairy farmers, beef finishers or suckler farmers rearing dairy calves sourced from the Glanbia herd and supplying Kepak with finished animals. Glanbia Ireland and Kepak staff will work together and will provide technical farm support to members as the programme develops. This will involve leading edge advice on breeding, nutrition, animal health and welfare, grassland management, and slaughter preparation.

A key target for the club is sustainability, with an ambition to become world leading on environmental standards. It focuses strongly on leveraging science and technology, including genomics, genetic evaluations and greenhouse gas reduction. Eligible calves will have to have a known sire recorded on the AIMS registration system from 2020. Stock bulls must be pedigree registered and genotyped. Some 10% of calves entering the programme must be genotyped to verify breed and parentage. Dairy farmer members must select bulls with a specified minimum Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, dairy beef index. All members must be approved and fully compliant with Bord Bia's sustainable beef and lamb assurance scheme and, as such, must be verified members of Origin Green. It targets a reduction in the average age of the cattle at slaughter, which will reduce the environmental footprint of the beef produced.

Additionally, the nutritional programme will incorporate methane-reducing feed additives that will improve feed conversion efficiency and further reduce methane output.

The Twenty20 Beef Club targets increasing beef output and sales value per hectare through improved efficiencies on farm. This focus will increase the proportion of dairy bred cattle meeting market specifications. The pricing model is anchored in the market and will contain the following components: the average quoted price, AQP, as quoted weekly by all ROI processors; a club premium, ranging from 15 cent to 25 cent depending on the AQP applying in the week in question; a club protocol bonus of 12 cent will be paid on all cattle, regardless of grade, meeting the carcase weight specification of 280-360 kg in the first two years - the objective is to increase the number of cattle meeting market specifications through improved breeding and technical support; a breed bonus, which is currently applicable on angus and Hereford, will still apply for club cattle; and a seasonality bonus will be applicable. In April and June, it will be 6 cent while in May it will be 10 cent. At an AQP of €3.75, a Twenty20 Beef Club angus steer slaughtered in April 2021 will qualify for a net price to the farmer of €4.28, while at an AQP of €4, the same animal would earn €4.43 per kg.

In conclusion, we believe the Twenty20 Beef Club delivers a new model for calf-to-beef production; a guaranteed market for members' cattle; a predictable and guaranteed pricing structure; a production blueprint based on leading-edge technical advice; a model to deliver a reduction in environmental impact whilst increasing output; and a product for which the consumer will be happy to pay a premium. We believe this collaborative cross-sector approach demonstrates an alternative and progressive approach to delivering a more sustainable future for Irish beef and dairy production. I thank members very much for the invitation to appear before the committee. There is more detail on the companies behind this new initiative in the material circulated. We are happy to answer any questions.