The requirement to be a member of the Bord Bia quality assurance scheme for the new Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme is a change “we probably could have avoided”, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.

He told last week’s INHFA AGM that the condition is a significant change from the last suckler scheme.

“It’s a change we probably could have avoided, but it’s a change that was made in order to strengthen the sector overall, to futureproof it,” he said.

The Origin Green and quality assurance programmes are big calling cards for Irish produce to get on to shelves and into supermarkets abroad, he said.

“I know that from the people that are buying the beef off us that it is big ticket item. It’s why we can stay on those shelves, why we can get on to new shelves and why we can maximise the value of what we’re selling,” he said.