Ornua chief to consumers: ‘Do you want a 10,000 herd in a shed in California, or grass-fed Irish family farming?’

Although Mr Jordan has “no doubt” that co-ops and farmers will “take ownership” of meeting new targets, he is less clear on whether higher ‘green’ standards will deliver additional premiums inside farm gates.

It comes as Kerrygold owner Ornua, which sells dairy products on behalf of its dairy processor members, published an operating profit of €83m for 2020 (up 69pc), despite the impact of Covid-19.

Consumption habits

Kerrygold product sales also grew 13pc, with more than 10 million packets sold each week — due to changing consumption habits during lockdowns.

Mr Jordan told the Farming Independent: “Climate change does not recognise international borders — this is a global issue. The Climate Action Bill will bring in legal requirements for us all to meet and I fundamentally believe Ornua, the co-ops and farmers will absolutely stand up and take ownership of responsibility for meeting those targets.

“But it’s important to caveat that dairy production is a global play, and we are global players. Ireland is the most carbon-efficient place in the world to produce dairy, so if we don’t produce it, it’s will be produced somewhere else that has a more damaging impact.

“Do you want a 10,000 herd standing in a shed in California? Or do you want grass-fed Irish family farming

“People talk about almond juice, but 80pc of the world’s almonds are produced in California and it takes 6,000 litres of water to produce a litre of almond juice — that’s not an alternative. We need to be careful and have a holistic debate around it.

“Farmers need long-term, sustainable propositions because it’s handed down from generation to generation, so it’s in their interests that this works.”

Reflecting on the outcome of last week’s High Court judicial review, which rejected An Taisce’s bid to stop Glanbia Ireland’s proposed plans to build a €140m cheese plant in Co Kilkenny, Mr Jordan said it was “a positive result” for the dairy industry.

When asked if he thinks consumers will pay a higher price for food produced under increased environmental standards, he pointed to Kerrygold, where the consumer is “already paying” a premium “above and beyond” domestic prices.

“It’s incumbent on anybody who markets Irish dairy products to maximise price and there is no better example than Kerrygold,” he said.

“In Germany a 250g pack of Kerrygold butter is €2.39, German butter is €1.39; in the US a pound of butter is $4.50, a pound of Kerrygold is $8.70; at home a pound of Kerrygold is €3.59, and a pound of own label is €2.09.

Premium

“That’s the premium of grass-fed and sustainability we have in Kerrygold due to programmes like SDAS with Bord Bia and what farmers are doing underpin it.

“The consumer is paying a premium today for Kerrygold above and beyond domestic product. I don’t believe there is an additional premium — it’s about protecting the premium we have today.

“It’s incumbent on all of us, through all of the challenges, to try and get up that value chain... anything that takes us away from our critical grass-fed family farming system is not good for us.”

Indo Farming