The Irish Grain Assurance Scheme (IGAS) has gained gold standard from the farm sustainability assessment (FSA), the leading international accreditation system.
It becomes the first and only grain assurance scheme worldwide to have achieved this benchmark, the highest available.
Addressing representatives from every link in the Irish grain production chain, Joe Iveson of SAI Platform, the global organisation that oversees the FSA, congratulated IGAS on the landmark achievement.
Continuous improvement
He said the purpose of the FSA, founded in 2002, was to foster a common understanding of what sustainable agriculture is, through relevant and continuous improvement.
Over 300,000 farms in 60 countries have signed up to assurance schemes.
In Ireland, over 90% of traded grain is IGAS assured, with every tonne of stored grain inspected by IGAS each year.
IGAS manager Tom Kelly said that 1,000 of the 4,000 grain growers signed up to IGAS are inspected each year.
Tom Kelly, Marian Murphy, Sheila Kenny and John Crean at the announcement that IGAS has attained gold standard under FSA 3.0, the highest international standard possible.
IGAS membership peaked at 6,000 members about 10 years ago, Kelly said, showing how the grain sector has contracted.
Farmers will not be asked to do significantly more than they currently do under the gold standard IGAS, he said.
"Price is now only getting us to the negotiating table to sell malt," John Crean quoted Peter Nallen of Boortmalt as saying some years ago. Quality assurance and sustainability were now the selling points for value-added grain, he said. Crean is now in charge of IGAS auditing of merchants.
Sheila Kenny of the Irish Distillers echoed this sentiment, with Marian Murphy adding that the Irish grain sector "wants to be top of the class".
The Irish Grain Assurance Scheme (IGAS) has gained gold standard from the farm sustainability assessment (FSA), the leading international accreditation system.
It becomes the first and only grain assurance scheme worldwide to have achieved this benchmark, the highest available.
Addressing representatives from every link in the Irish grain production chain, Joe Iveson of SAI Platform, the global organisation that oversees the FSA, congratulated IGAS on the landmark achievement.
Continuous improvement
He said the purpose of the FSA, founded in 2002, was to foster a common understanding of what sustainable agriculture is, through relevant and continuous improvement.
Over 300,000 farms in 60 countries have signed up to assurance schemes.
In Ireland, over 90% of traded grain is IGAS assured, with every tonne of stored grain inspected by IGAS each year.
IGAS manager Tom Kelly said that 1,000 of the 4,000 grain growers signed up to IGAS are inspected each year.
Tom Kelly, Marian Murphy, Sheila Kenny and John Crean at the announcement that IGAS has attained gold standard under FSA 3.0, the highest international standard possible.
IGAS membership peaked at 6,000 members about 10 years ago, Kelly said, showing how the grain sector has contracted.
Farmers will not be asked to do significantly more than they currently do under the gold standard IGAS, he said.
"Price is now only getting us to the negotiating table to sell malt," John Crean quoted Peter Nallen of Boortmalt as saying some years ago. Quality assurance and sustainability were now the selling points for value-added grain, he said. Crean is now in charge of IGAS auditing of merchants.
Sheila Kenny of the Irish Distillers echoed this sentiment, with Marian Murphy adding that the Irish grain sector "wants to be top of the class".
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