Irish Farmers’ Association welcomes Bord Bia’s decision on beef from young bulls

BORD Bia’s decision to include young bulls in its grass-fed standard is the right call, the Irish Farmers’ Association has said.

The IFA and Bord Bia had been in consultation over recent weeks, and there has been agreement on a number of changes to the food board’s grass-fed standard. Among these changes is the accommodation of young bull beef.

This will mean that such beef will be eligible to be included under the standard alongside steers, heifers, and cows.

The first nine months of an animal’s life – this includes young bulls – will be considered grass-fed, regardless of whether on not they are on a Quality Assured (QA) farm or farms.

Young bulls will be treated the same as other animal categories, with qualification as grass-fed depending on meeting the standards relating to proportion of grass in diet and grazing days.

“I want to acknowledge the fact that Bord Bia has listened to reason on this matter and adopted a flexible approach in order that to maximise the proportion of beef that will qualify as grass fed,” said IFA Chairperson Tim Cullinan in response to the news.

“Not all young bull beef systems will fit into the grass fed standard, but if farmers operate their system to meet the criteria, they will now be able to qualify.

“These changes apply to the Bord Bia Grass fed standard. Bord Bia had originally intended this to be the basis for Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) application.

“However, this needs far more discussion before it proceeds any further,” Mr Cullinan added.