Dairygold announced a minimum contract price of €285/t for beans on Wednesday 15 February for the 2023 harvest.

The price comes as many farmers are planting beans and planting will ramp up at the end of the month and into March if weather allows.

The price gives farmers security as they plant, along with a protein payment from CAP, likely to be over €500/ha.

Dairygold head of agribusiness Liam O’Flaherty said: “Beans have grown into an important ingredient in many of Dairygold’s feeds as they supply a rich source of valuable native protein and starch.”

Certainty

He added that the price will give farmers clarity around the potential returns from growing beans and “allows growers greater certainty when deciding on cropping plans for the coming season”.

Nutritionist Colman Purcell said Dairygold is using native protein as a direct replacement for imported protein to improve carbon footprints.

He stated: “We now market a range of feeds that are fully manufactured from Irish grown feed ingredients, Gold Farm Beef feeds, which are finding strong support with livestock feeders as they look for quality and consistent performance.”

Tillage manager Liam Leahy encouraged growers to take up the offer to give security on income, as well as taking advantage of the low input crop, which does not require nitrogen fertiliser.

“It is important to understand that this crop with its low input requirements, guaranteed minimum harvest price, plus the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine protein support makes it a very safe crop to support and should be embraced at farm level for all that it offers,” he commented.