Page 10 - Bord Bia | Dairy from Ireland

8 DAIRY INGREDIENTS FROM IRELAND

1. At Farm Level

The Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme SUSTAINABILITY
(SDAS) is a national dairy scheme with As part of SDAS, Bord Bia auditors gather
close to 100 percent participation from data during the audit process through the
Irish dairy farmers. Sustainability Survey. This enables Bord Bia
The SDAS was developed by a Technical to assess the environmental performance
Advisory Committee (TAC) representing of farms via a carbon footprint calculation.
Bord Bia – the Irish Food Board; Teagasc; The data gathered is used to generate a
the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI); farmer feedback report which includes a
the Department of Agriculture, Food and summary of farm performance under
the Marine (DAFM); industry (producers 1. General Farm Performance
and processors) and other technical 2. Carbon Footprint
experts. The SDAS monitors quality
assurance requirements and collects farm 3. Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)
performance data to demonstrate the 4. Nutrient Management
sustainability of Irish dairying at individual
farm level. It monitors Ireland’s progress 5. Grassland Management
in a systematic way on its journey of 6. Farm Health and Safety.
continuous improvement. The reported data compares current farm
A farm visit is conducted by an performance against the previous SDAS
independent auditor on every member’s audit and is also used as a benchmark
farm at 18 month intervals and a against farms of a similar size. The purpose
of the feedback report is to demonstrate
comprehensive report is produced on the
performance of the farm under the criteria to farmers how their farm inputs and
of the two main components of the SDAS: activities contribute to GHG production
Sustainability and Quality Assurance. and contains advice on how to mitigate
against these emissions and improve
production efficiencies.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
The SDAS scheme is accredited to
the European Standard for Product
Certification (ISO/IEC 17065: 2012).
During the Bord Bia farm visit, a member’s
compliance in areas relating to legal,
quality and customer requirements
including food safety, traceability, animal
welfare and farm safety are assessed.