There is no clear pathway set out yet for tillage farmers to get recognition for their grain through Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme as huge costs would be incurred in getting the current assurance standard accredited.

The Food Vision tillage group was tasked with assessing whether the current Irish Grain Assurance Scheme (IGAS) standard could be aligned with Origin Green.

The agency told the Irish Farmers Journal that an absence of accreditation prevents grain growers from gaining Origin Green recognition but that it had consulted with farming organisations on the matter.

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“Bord Bia remains open to further dialogue with the sector and is actively participating in the tillage vision group,” a spokesperson said.

“However, as IGAS is not an accredited standard, it cannot currently serve as an entry point into Origin Green.”

IGAS told the Irish Farmers Journal that this would see accreditation substantial costs passed back to growers taking part in the assurance scheme.

Accreditation would require more inspections than are already carried out, which would be funded by grain growers themselves. “The extra cost of auditing all grain growers every year would add colossal costs to the membership fee and, as IGAS receives no Government funding, the growers would have to pay for this,” it commented.

“This raises the question –what benefit is the extra cost for the grower unless they are guaranteed a premium price for their grain?”

Currently, all of the main buyers of high-quality Irish grain, such as the main players in distilling and brewing, look for the IGAS standard when purchasing.

IGAS recently turned heads for gaining gold standard recognition from the international Farm Assurance Scheme benchmarking body – a world-first.