The CEO of the Malting Company of Ireland has warned that the pilot Irish grain quality assurance scheme will not progress unless grain growers receive a premium for their product.
Paul McGillicuddy was speaking at the Irish Farmers Journal’s Tillage Day, where he said the pilot scheme is still being worked on with farmers and growers.
“We’re working through this. We’re on a TAC [technical advisory committee] with farm organisations and merchants, we’re working on this for over 12 months, it felt like 12 years some days,” he said.
“We’ve gone out to six growers to give feedback on the grower programme. They then feedback to the TAC and then it will be about where are we now,” he said.
The MCI CEO said that industry needs to see the final product before they get involved.
“We won’t be progressing the programme without a premium guaranteed for the grower,” he stated.
He said if the pilot brings value and a premium to the key buyers of grain, the big breweries and distilleries, then they will get on board.
McGillicuddy said that consumers are already paying a premium “any day we go to the pub”.
Payment model
Managing director of Drummonds Paul Ward questioned the way Irish grain is paid for.
“Is the model working? What we find is, OK we’ve a lot of Irish grain, but the Irish grain isn’t always available to the market when the market wants it.
“The way grain is being priced, it doesn’t become available to October. They’re (grain buyers) going to buy, and take cover off, the imported grain.
“That piece of the market is now gone. Irish grain is just not available to the market because of the way it’s being priced,” he said.
He said he believes that the sector has “drifted into a situation” where Irish grain is trying to find itself in an already competitive market, but is instead confined to a six- or three-month market.
“Imported grains could run into March. The entire crop is priced in one day,” he said, adding that factories don’t buy meat all in the one day and processors don’t buy milk all in one day.
“So why is Irish grain priced in that way?” he questioned.
