Dawn Meats has announced the launch of a new incentivised sustainability programme for Irish beef farmers, which is being supported and co-funded by McDonald’s UK and Ireland.

The initiative involves a total investment of €4.4m over three years and will provide payments to participating farmers for successfully implementing agreed sustainability plans and reducing emissions.

The programme has been created to accelerate the adoption of cost-effective on-farm sustainability practices and will involve both online and practical training for farmers to support them in achieving their emissions reduction targets.

Progress will be assessed annually and scheme members will be compensated through a “sustainability dividend” for their engagement, active collaboration and successful delivery of target outcomes.

Programme

McDonald’s will co-sponsor the programme, while the initiative will also be supported by Bord Bia, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and Teagasc.

So far, 50 farmers, who are suppliers of Dawn Meats, have signed up to participate in the programme and have already completed farm sustainability plans.

A second phase of recruitment is now ongoing and the target is for up to 200 farmers to have joined the programme in its first year.

The initiative aligns with Dawn Meats’ 'Plan Four Zero' and McDonald’s 'Plan for Change' sustainability strategies and also aligns with the Irish Government’s objective to achieve a 25% absolute reduction in agricultural emissions by 2030.

The programme will seek to encourage participating farmers to accelerate the adoption of science-based solutions, to mitigate biodiversity loss, enhance soil health and combat global warming.

Farmers will be provided with the tools required to implement sustainability plans, including access to an array of resources, from online and practical training to in-person events and knowledge transfer workshops.

Support

Dawn Meats and Teagasc representatives will share their expertise in sustainable farming practices and the use of online sustainability tools in addition to offering one-on-one support to farmers. Training modules will be delivered through the online Bord Bia learning platform.

Participating farmers will also be required to sign up to the Teagasc Signpost sustainability programme and to complete the Bord Bia sustainability survey annually, which will assist in calculating their on-farm emissions performance.

Farm performance data will be monitored and reported through AgNav, a sustainability support framework run by Bord Bia, Teagasc and the ICBF.

Herdwatch will provide farmers with herd management software funded by Dawn Meats and act as a project partner to streamline data collection.

Payments

Participating farmers can expect to receive payments and technical supports ranging between €4,000 and €8,000 a year, depending on factors such as the number of animals per farm, qualifying grades and the level of emissions reductions.

Dawn Meats CEO Niall Browne said: “Sustainability has been central to our business plan for over 40 years and this is why we are helping farmers to set ambitious targets and incentivising them to achieve verified results.

"By working closely with the farmers that supply us, we will be helping them to farm more sustainably while reducing our scope three emissions.”

Vice-president UK and Ireland supply chain at McDonald’s Laura Henderson said: “As a business, we have set ourselves ambitious climate targets as part of our plan for change strategy.

"Our scope three emissions present the biggest challenge, not just to our business but to the entire agriculture industry, and we can only achieve these targets through close collaboration across the supply chain.”

Bord Bia CEO Jim O’ Toole said: “Bord Bia is delighted to support McDonald’s and Dawn Meats on the 'Activate' initiative, enabling farmers to improve their sustainability performance and achieve their emissions reduction targets.

"Together with our partners - Teagasc and the ICBF - Bord Bia wants the AgNav platform to become the primary sustainability support tool for Irish farms.

"AgNav will provide participating farmers with environmental performance data, empowering them to take the most appropriate actions for their farm and play their part in climate action.”