Bord Bia’s exhibit at the National Ploughing Championships 2014 will be a must-see for livestock producers visiting this year’s event. The main marquee, located opposite the Irish Farmers Journal stand, will have a practical, informative focus and will outline Bord Bia’s promotional activities for Irish meat, livestock and dairy products. Visitors will learn more about the requirements of our top beef and lamb export markets, as well as Bord Bia’s Quality Assurance Schemes. The latest Bord Bia producer newsletter will be available on the stand, with in-depth market analysis and outlook for Irish beef, lamb, pigmeat and live exports. As per previous years, Bord Bia personnel and sector managers will be available throughout the three day event to speak with producers.
Following a visit to the market information area, visitors will be directed into the adjoining Origin Green ‘dome’. Origin Green is the only sustainability programme in the world that operates on a national scale. Launched by Bord Bia in 2012, to date almost 70,000 Irish beef and dairy farms have been carbon footprinted as part of the programme, with approximately 700 farms being audited each week. Visitors to the Origin Green dome will learn about the growing importance of sustainability in the marketplace and what the Irish agri-food sector – farmers and manufacturers – is doing to meet the challenge.
Awarding Green Heroes
For the second time, Bord Bia will host the Origin Green Sustainable Beef Producer Awards during the National Ploughing Championship, a competition involving 12 cattle producers from different parts of the country. The finalists have been selected from Bord Bia’s Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme, which now includes over 45,500 farms. The overall winning producers will be announced during an Awards ceremony on the Bord Bia stand on Wednesday evening.
Demonstrations – Sustainable Livestock
Finally, each day there will be a number of live animal demonstrations around the theme of ‘Sustainable Livestock’, which Bord Bia is organising in conjunction with the Irish Farmers Journal. The demonstrations will focus on the sustainable, efficient production of cattle, sheep and dairy which meet the demands of our most valuable markets. There will be 3 presentations held daily.