Collaboration's ripple effect on water quality
Bernie Commins and Stephen Connolly, agri-sustainability manager with leading European meat processor, ABP Food Group (ABP), discuss its involvement in a collaborative scheme aimed at supporting farmers in the adoption of sustainable farming practices that minimise the impact of agriculture on water quality
The River Suir in the south of Ireland, is one of eight priority catchments that has been identified by the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a ‘catchments of concern’ due to the impact of agriculture. It, along with the others, has a tailored action plan – the Suir Catchment Better Farming for Water Action Plan – with clear targets and timelines to deliver measurable water quality improvements. Delivering these improvements involves key stakeholders all working together including farmers, agri-food industries, local authorities, the wider community, and industry leads.
ABP is one of the industry leads in the Suir Catchment Better Farming for Water Action Plan because, as Stephen points out: “Water quality is something that's really important for us, not just in our farm-supply base, but also in our factories.” And, collaboration is key, he adds: “We can't do it alone. We need to work with everyone in the industry, whether it be dairy, beef, tillage; all different farming systems feed into the same water base.”
ABP commitment
Stephen continues: “One important thing ABP has done is it has put boots on the ground. There are five people within our agri-team who are fully trained in water quality now.” He explains that this helps to provide farmers with support in terms of: identifying water issues, putting a plan in place to address them, and, where applicable, applying for water-quality-improvement grants. Recently, Stephen says, ABP had assisted in submitting an application for €186,000 of funding [as part of the Water European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project] for just over 20 beef and sheep farmers in the Boyne catchment area. This is an indication of the potential support, and resources available, for family farmers in the Suir catchment area.
Helping farmers to address water issues involves a targeted approach, says Stephen: “Teagasc (Agriculture and Food Development Authority) has done a lot of work using data to identify where the real priority areas are. So, we work very closely with Teagasc to identify these areas, with respect to our suppliers in those areas, we link in with them, and we build a plan,” he explains. He continues: “It has to be very targeted; if it is not, it won't work.”
As a farmer himself, Stephen sees the two sides of this coin: “Farmers really do want to make sure that we have a positive impact on biodiversity and water quality, and we continue to produce a high-quality [meat] product. We've probably one of the most sustainable products in world so that is really positive.” Independent national water-quality data will inform the measures that farmers will adopt, he says.
International exposure
In terms of our international reputation as food producers, how important is good water quality in Ireland when trying to garner attention from new customers, and trying to enter new export markets? Stephen says: “The sustainability of our product is hugely important to our customers. And it's important to say that we are in a really good place [in Ireland], whether it be water quality, biodiversity, carbon footprint, it is really positive. But we always need to do more, we always need to stay ahead.”
In the wider carbon footprint context, water quality is something that everyone can relate to, he comments: “Sometimes it can be hard to understand ‘carbon footprint’ and how that impacts your day-to-day life. With water, we use it everyday; we drink it, we cook with it. So that is a very obvious one to the customer and they want to know that there hasn’t been a negative impact. This type of collaboration [Better Farming for Water initiative] is a real positive for industry.” At this juncture, Stephen also references the online sustainability platform, AgNav – created through a partnership between Teagasc, Bord Bia, and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation – which is available for dairy and beef farmers. “There is nowhere else in the world where farmers have that database available to them, and we are encouraging farmers to adopt some of the water-quality measures from AgNav also,” he explains.
The adoption of AgNav water-quality measures by ABP farmer suppliers, alongside other sustainability practices, is now a rewardable action by ABP under a recently launched initiative, Stephen explains: “Farmers involved in our breed bonus programmes – Certified Irish Angus and Hereford Prime – will receive a bonus payment if they use AgNav, which incorporates water quality measures.” Farmers also get a minimum genetic-standard top-up payment, which also improves the sustainability of beef produced, he adds. “These are examples of things that can work really well; combining water quality, sustainability and biodiversity while supporting the farmers' incomes.”
Regenerative farming
Also located within the Suir catchment area is a first-of-its-kind regenerative farm, or ‘monitor farm’, located in south Tipperary on the Coady family farm, in partnership with with ABP and Sysco, one of Ireland’s largest foodservice specialists. In 2024, a five-year collaborative sustainable farming project was launched here to pioneer regenerative farming methods, and it follows farmer, Aoibhín Coady’s journey as she trials a wide range of sustainable agricultural practices, including water-quality-improvement measures, says Stephen. One of the ‘8-Actions for Change’ within the Better Farming for Water campaign involves fencing off water courses to prevent cattle from entering them but this requires an alternative method of providing drinking water.
On the Coady farm, solar pumps have been installed, says Stephen, to provide a source of clean drinking water for cattle, while blocking them from entering the water course.
“This is a typical farm, and they are doing great work,” says Stephen “They are finishing the cattle at a younger age, they are incorporating clover into their swards, they are measuring grass, we have developed a nutrient management plan, and we have the solar pumps there now to keep the animals out of the water courses. All these little things are improving sustainability on the farm,” he adds.
Global demands
ABP has global demands for its high-quality products, but what environmental standards do customers expect in the production of those products? Stephen explains: “Every customer is different, but the environmental footprint of their beef and their lamb is something that is very important to them, and that ties in water quality and biodiversity,” he says. “With these initiatives [AgNav and Better Farming for Water] we are in a really good place, I would say, we have so much data available and that gives us a huge point of difference when we talk to our customers. They trust our product, which is really important to us.”
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