Cattle farmers in Bord Bia’s Quality Assurance (QA) scheme should only buy livestock from other certified QA farms, the food marketing body has recommended.

The proposal is one of a number of possible reforms of the Origin Green producer standard, Bord Bia’s flagship sustainability programme, which are being debated with industry stakeholders.

The controversial proposal, seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, states that “bought-in livestock should be purchased from Bord Bia-certified herds”.

Such a move could risk creating a two-tier market for livestock, with a premium potentially being paid for animals from farms that are in the Bord Bia’s QA scheme.

Bord Bia figures show that 44,000 beef producers are certified as members of its Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS).

However, a large proportion of suckler farmers remain outside SBLAS as they contend that membership of the scheme does not deliver a price premium for their weanlings.

Any move to promote the purchase of livestock from QA-certified herds is likely to face intense opposition from suckler farmers.

An additional 9,863 farmers joined SBLAS in 2023 to comply with the SCEP suckler scheme.