Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Thomas Ryan:
I wish to add to that and speak to our Twenty20 beef club partnership with Kepak in Tirlán as an example of a partnership in action. We have 40,000 calves in 2024 signed in as part of that. This is very much aimed at producing calves. I was thinking, as I listened to Mr. Crammond, that here, yet again, is an example of an innovative initiative and of a partnership where there is a challenge in the marketplace and we wonder how we are going to be able to work together to solve our problem. This Twenty20 beef club, a Tirlán-Kepak partnership that is recognised through Cogeca in terms of its economic and sustainability innovation, is yet again another proof point of positive farmer engagement and shows that where there is a programme and scheme put in place and an opportunity, farmers are generally up for it and ready to take the opportunity.