The Irish Grain Assurance Scheme (IGAS) has reported that global grain trade has increased to almost 600 million tonnes per year from 1921 to 2021. The IGAS is considered the most comprehensive system of grain traceability in Europe, with 90% of all traded grain in Ireland covered by the scheme. Operated by CropSure Ltd. and owned by the Cereal Association of Ireland, the IGAS sets the standard for the production, transport, handling, and storage of Irish cereal crops. It is required by various industries including brewing and distilling, flour milling, animal feed manufacturing, and oatflake and pea processing.
The IGAS has recently achieved the gold standard in benchmarking to the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform Farm Sustainability Assessment version 3.0. This is significant for the marketing of products derived from Irish grain and for the added value of Irish grain in the animal feed industry. The benchmarking process has been updated to include factors such as conservation and habitat management, waste management, prevention of crop residues to landfill, sustainable energy acquisition, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
The SAI platform is a globally recognized sustainability standard for all crops in all countries and is required by major brewers, distillers, and food companies. The Cereal Association of Ireland, which oversees the IGAS, is an umbrella group that includes the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Teagasc, the Irish Grain and Feed Association, and the Irish Farmers’ Association.
Established in 2002, the IGAS previously achieved silver status in 2018 and is accepted as the minimum supply standard by the Universal Feed Assurance Scheme and Bord Bia. The scheme conducts over 1,000 audits annually and has 4,000 members in three categories: green growers, storage growers, and merchants.
The achievement of gold status from the SAI has been congratulated by Sheila Kenny, the quality assurance manager at Irish Distillers. Kenny highlighted the importance of the IGAS in sourcing barley for distilling and expressed support for the scheme as part of their sustainability and responsibility commitments.
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