Young bull beef under 16 months will be included in Bord Bia’s grass-fed standard in a move that has been welcomed by the IFA. Bord Bia said it had consulted with stakeholders and that young bulls would be treated with the same criteria as other animal categories moving forward.
Young bull beef under 16 months will be included in Bord Bia’s grass-fed standard in a move that has been welcomed by the IFA.
Bord Bia said it had consulted with stakeholders and that young bulls would be treated with the same criteria as other animal categories moving forward.
This means that steers, heifers, young bulls and cows are all now included in the standard.
Bord Bia received criticism over the exclusion during beef protests last year, with many farmers demanding that they do more to promote Irish beef abroad.
IFA president Tim Cullinan said: “The IFA could never agree to the exclusion of young bull beef from the grass-fed standard.”
Animals will only qualify for the scheme if they come from farms that are members of the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS).
However, Bord Bia does allow that the first nine months of an animal’s life can be spent on non-QA farms.
“This means that all animals including young bulls will be deemed as grass fed for this period regardless of whether they were on QA [quality assured] or non-QA farm[s],” Bord Bia said.
It’s expected that the grass-fed standard will be the basis of the Bord Bia Protected Geographical Indicator application in Europe.
The two main criteria of the new grass-fed standard are:
A minimum of 90% of an animal’s diet during their lifetime on a fresh weight basis must be grass or grass based forages.The annual average days of grass stands at 220 days with an allowance of up to 40 days where soil type or weather may prevent longer grazing seasons. Read more
Inclusion of young bulls in grass-fed standard the correct move – IFA
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