Glanbia Ireland’s sustainability journey continues with Signpost Programme partnership

The Teagasc-led initiative involves up to 40 companies and organisations from the Irish Agri-food sector, along with Irish farmers and others dedicated to meet the challenge of climate change.



Launching the Signpost Programme, An Taoiseach, Micheal Martin TD said: “The agriculture sector has a crucial role to play in meeting the challenge of climate change, while creating resilient farms for generations to come. The Signpost programme will demonstrate solutions, how to optimise your on-farm decision making for the benefit of both the planet and your pocket.”



The commitment of all the farmers and organisations involved to the Signpost Programme was welcomed by Chairman of the Teagasc Authority, Liam Herlihy. He said: “Working together we can meet the climate change challenge and take positive action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.”

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, TD said: “Agriculture has a critically important social, economic and environmental value to Ireland.  As an industry, farming has a history of embracing change and a shared desire to leave the farmed environment in a better condition for the next generation.”



The Signpost programme aims to achieve early progress in reducing gaseous emissions from Irish agriculture and also improve water quality, maintain and in some cases improve biodiversity, reduce costs and create more profitable and sustainable farming enterprises. It will also act as a test bed for on-farm carbon sequestration measurements so that this can, in time, be taken into account by the EPA in the national Greenhouse Gas inventory.



Glanbia Ireland Chairman John Murphy said: “Glanbia Ireland is delighted to be a partner in the Signpost Programme with Teagasc in our catchment area. As part of the programme roll-out we will be increasing the sustainability measures in our existing Open Source Future Farm programme, with carbon flux towers being installed and LIDAR studies taking place to measure carbon that is being sequestered.



“In addition, each of the host farmers and their families that are participating in the Programme will have a comprehensive Farm Sustainability Plan, covering themes including climate action, water quality, air, biodiversity and economic sustainability.”



Seán Molloy, Glanbia Ireland Chief Agri-business Growth Officer, added: “The Signpost collaboration builds on the significant sustainability actions that our farmer suppliers are already undertaking. This includes participation in Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme and the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advice Programme (ASSAP) helping to improve water quality. Also, increasing numbers of our suppliers and their families are taking part in tailored programmes specifically developed by Glanbia Ireland, including FarmGen, Beef Twenty20 club and Operation Biodiversity. Indeed in recent days we were delighted to announce that our suppliers have planted over 81,000 native trees and hedging plants as part of Operation Biodiversity.



“We look forward to the key learnings and actions from the Signpost Programme being shared with our wider supplier base, as they continue to make an agri-environmental difference for themselves, their farm families and wider communities.”