Sustainable Kildalton

Teagasc and Glanbia Ingredients Ireland announced details on the new Kildalton Open Source Sustainable Farm initiative at the National Dairy Conference in the Red Cow hotel last week Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, GII CEO, Jim Bergin and Prof Gerry Boyle, Teagasc announced details of the new initiative.

The Kildalton Open Source Sustainable Farm initiative will measure success across 4 key pillars with economic sustainability underpinning all: Resource use efficiency -Water, Energy and Nutrients; Land Management to maintain and develop biodiversity; Animal Welfare and Health & Safety. Progress in each of these important areas will be benchmarked globally and measured against target on an annualised basis. The farm will be used to demonstrate best practices which will ensure sustainable farming systems into the future.

The first development by the Kildalton Open Source Sustainable Farm is testing the application of a number of useful tools for farmers such as The Carbon Navigator - an on-line system which supports farmers and their advisers in reducing the carbon intensity of dairy or beef farms.

Kildalton College is situated in the village of Piltown, Co Kilkenny in the picturesque Suir valley. It is the largest agricultural college in the country operated by Teagasc and a leading provider of training in Equine Studies, Machinery, Agriculture and Horticulture.

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland has prioritised sustainability as a key focus for its business with the introduction of its Open Source® sustainability and quality assurance programme launched earlier this year, whereby all 4,500 farmer suppliers will be audited to comply with core sustainability benchmarks. This dedication to a sustainable agenda has been rewarded recently. Glanbia Ingredients Ireland won first prize for ‘Best Business to Business Partnership’ at the annual Responsible Business Awards ceremony in London for the ‘Sustainable Cream initiative’ in collaboration with Diageo for Baileys Cream Liqueur.

Jim Bergin, CEO of Glanbia Ingredients Ireland, said sustainable principles are at the heart of what makes us different on the global dairy stage and it’s a strategic imperative for us to drive future development and growth in this area. T