Dairygold increases sustainability bonus
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Dairygold’s updated Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus will now offer a 33% increase in the payment, resulting in approximately €14m being paid out to participating farmers annually.
Launched by EU Commissioner Michael McGrath, the sustainability bonus scheme will now offer milk suppliers 1cpl payment.
The Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus was introduced in 2023, offering 0.75cpl (equivalent) of milk to participating Milk Suppliers. Since its launch in 2023, Dairygold has paid out more than €17m to participating Milk Suppliers. 93% of milk supplied to Dairygold is sourced from farms participating in the Grassroots programme.
To qualify, suppliers must participate in impactful sustainability actions, including protecting water quality, using protected urea to reduce greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, participating in a soil health programme, engaging in milk recording herd health and genetics programmes, along with farmer training and education.
Nutrient balance is a leading metric for water quality impact. Awareness of it at individual farm level will help to drive additional appropriate action to protect water quality. The herd genetics measures, including dairy beef, will further enhance herd performance to support more sustainable and profitable farming.
Speaking at the launch of the updated Dairygold Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus, Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said: “Dairy processors across Ireland, including Dairygold, are doing a lot of proactive work with their milk suppliers to improve the sustainability of our dairy industry.
"The dairy industry is Ireland’s largest and most successful indigenous industry, supporting thousands of farming families across the country. It’s through participation on programmes such as Grassroots that our family farms can future-proof their operations to ensure we maintain our world-class dairy industry into the future.”
Commenting on the increased bonus, Dairygold Chairperson Seán O’Brien said: “We’re delighted to be in a position to continue to reward our Milk Suppliers for the positive steps they are taking to make their farms even more sustainable.
"We know that water quality is a priority issue for agriculture, and we’re committed to doing what we can to further drive action to protect and improve it across the Dairygold catchment.
"The updated training element of the Grassroots Bonus, encompassing individual nutrient balance training and action, will go a long way towards achieving those positive results. However, we also need to ensure we’re given the time to demonstrate the efficacy of these measures.
Dairygold Chief Executive Michael Harte said: “Our Milk Suppliers have made great progress in adopting more sustainable farming practices since the launch of the Grassroots Bonus Programme in 2023.
"We saw a requirement to update the bonus programme to reflect the changing nature of the challenges facing the agriculture industry, and we’re confident the updated Grassroots programme will go a long way towards addressing those challenges. We’re here to support our Milk Suppliers in their efforts to make the dairy industry more sustainable, as without them, there is no dairy industry.”
