Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The best way farmers can insulate themselves from the price volatility that will happen in the future is to ensure Irish product get differentiated from other product. Let us not forget that more than 85% of all the milk we produce is exported in various forms, be it infant formula, skimmed and semi-skimmed milk, cheese, yoghurts and all the other products in which milk is an ingredient. If we are to be able to demand a higher price for our product in the future, which we will need to do, and move away from being a commodity producer of volume to being a quality producer of volume, targeting the top 10% price area in the new markets we are exploring, we have to be able to stand over the way in which our food is produced. The sustainability and quality programme will not cost farmers a great deal of money, in fact it will help them to run their businesses more efficiently. If a farmer is using less water, has more feed conversion efficiency and more efficient grazing management, his business will be more efficient and sustainable. The combination of those two factors will improve the standard of dairy farming in Ireland, which will be beneficial for everybody.

In the context of the capital investment farmers have to make, we will make more than €10 million available to dairy farmers next year in the form of the TAM scheme, which is half of the overall scheme as such, to help them with the costs of expansion, growth and upgrading their equipment.

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Environmental sustainability is an increasingly important issue in the marketplace for many multinational dairy and food operators, many of which now have sustainability as a core part of their corporate strategies. During my trade missions to China and the US in 2012 it was clear that the sustainability and quality messages have a strong resonance both with potential customers for Irish food products and with potential investors in the Irish agri food sector.

Developing a unique selling point for Irish food products is a critically important element of the national strategy for the development of the sector. It is particularly relevant in the dairy sector where we will need to maximise market returns for significantly increased production in competitive markets worldwide. Ireland is well placed to develop a national brand image based on a reputation for high quality dairy products, and on its mild maritime climate, plentiful supplies of water, grass based production and an already positive green image.

In that context, earlier this year, Bord Bia launched its “Origin Green” programme, which establishes a framework within which Irish food companies can have their green credentials independently measured. This will be a critically important element in the development of the Irish food sector in the coming years and its promotion on international markets. The key is to build independently verifiable metrics, which can be used in the marketplace, around Ireland’s already positive green image.

It is equally important to develop an independently accredited sustainability and quality programme at farm level for the dairy sector as part of that overall strategy to enable the sector point to verifiable attributes in maintaining and expanding its market share. There is also a strong correlation between the measures needed to improve environmental sustainability and to improve hygiene and other quality practices on farm, and those needed to reduce the costs of production at farm level and improve profitability.

In that context, and following extensive consultations with stakeholders in the first half of 2012, I announced in June that Bord Bia would begin detailed work on the development of a national sustainability and quality programme for the dairy sector to be used as a key element in marketing and promotional efforts on international markets. The programme will provide an independently accredited framework for operating best practice quality and sustainability principles on Irish dairy farms, and an objective and uniform mechanism for measuring compliance with these principles. It will also provide a vehicle for encouraging continuous improvement in production standards on Irish farms, underpin the marketing of Irish dairy products internationally and provide additional assurance for potential investors in Ireland.

Stakeholders are currently engaged in detailed technical discussions on the development of the programme, under the aegis of a technical advisory group convened by Bord Bia to progress the issue, and I hope it can be finalised in the near future.

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