Irish Distillers and Heineken Ireland are pairing up for a three year collaboration, which will support malting barley growers in adopting regenerative agricultural practices on their farms.

Fifteen Irish farmers from across Carlow, Kildare, Laois and Wexford will be taking part in the pilot project, along with partners Earthworm Foundation and Boortmalt.

The project will seek to improve soil health and carbon retention, increase biodiversity, improve water quality and improve the livelihoods of farmers through the adoption of a series of regenerative agricultural practices.

These practices include minimising soil disturbance, increasing crop diversity, increasing soil cover by maintaining living roots all year round, and reducing chemical inputs.

As part of the project, Earthworm Foundation will measure various metrics in participating farms, such as soil cover, fertiliser usage, water infiltration and profitability.

A report detailing the performance of each farm against defined indicators, as well as areas for improvement, will be shared with each farmer so that the impact of the new farming practices can be assessed.

Annual report

An annual report will also be made publicly available to track progress, share learnings and develop best practice. A financial incentive will be provided to farmers to support the cost of implementation and in-field experiments.

Kathryn D’Arcy, communications and corporate affairs director at Irish Distillers said that through the regenerative agriculture pilot programme for malting barley, they will support Ireland’s barley farmers as they strive to reduce carbon emissions while ensuring a sustainable supply for the future production of Irish whiskey.

Avril Collins, corporate affairs director at Heineken Ireland added: “Heineken are one of the first global brewers to have made a pledge for net zero carbon emissions across the value chain by 2040.

"We are delighted that here in Ireland we are taking this initiative deeper to look at a number of parameters across soil health, water and biodiversity to fully understand the impact and where change can be made."