Glanbia Ireland payment to boost biodiversity

Glanbia Ireland has announced a payment to boost biodiversity on dairy farms.

The 0.20* cent per litre unconditional biodiversity payment will be made this week to all Glanbia Ireland dairy farmers based on the amount of milk supplied in April.

Sean Molloy, Chief Agribusiness Growth Officer at Glanbia Ireland said: “We know that our milk suppliers are proud custodians of their natural environment. Protecting and improving the already high standards of biodiversity on Irish dairy farms is key to meeting the environmental challenges of reducing greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, increasing carbon capture and improving water quality. This payment is a recognition of what is already being achieved on our milk suppliers’ farms and also to encourage even more progress.”

Glanbia milk suppliers are encouraged to visit one of the 14 Glanbia Ireland CountryLife Garden Centres where a team of qualified horticulturalists are available to advise them on how to continue to enhance biodiversity on their farms.

Among the measures Glanbia Ireland is encouraging dairy farmers to consider for their farms are:

• Riparian buffer strips on watercourses;
• Creating shelter belts and wildlife corridors;
• Pollinator plots;
• Planting additional hedgerows and native trees this autumn.

Advice and guidance on enhancing farm biodiversity will be available to milk suppliers. For example, in the autumn planting season, Glanbia Ireland’s network of agribusiness branches will provide family dairy farms with advice and special offers on appropriate native trees and hedgerow plants to boost biodiversity. Later this year, a survey of the 4,500 family farms supplying milk to Glanbia Ireland will be undertaken to measure progress and provide advice on enhancing the already high standards of biodiversity on Irish farms.

Improvement in key environmental measures is a key focus of the five-year Glanbia Ireland Teagasc Future Farm programme launched in 2019.

* The payment of 0.20 cpl is inclusive of VAT and adjustment for constituents (0.18cpl ex VAT at 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein).

First Published 27 May 2020