ONLINE ORDERINGThe Future of Farming
With our partner of 35 years, ABP, we have embarked on a 5-year project to better understand the principles of regenerative farming and their potential impact so that we can gather these insights and share it more widely across our supply chain.
ABP Ireland are committed to playing a role in enhancing the environmental and economic efficiency of beef production. The Sysco ABP Regenerative farm, is a dedicated farm that showcases the art of the possible by improving on farm efficiency, develop an avenue of knowledge transfer and promote innovation that will aid farm productivity and profitability in the wider beef industry.
This dedicated farm follows Tipperary farmer Aoibhín Coady and her family, on their journey as they continue to implement a wide range of regenerative agricultural practices. This initiative will look at the impacts these practices can have across 6 key pillars; livestock responsibility; soil health; water quality; crop diversity; biodiversity; and farmer education. The aim is to also highlight the processes and potential opportunities and benefits to farmers.
Throughout the 5 years partnership, results will be scientifically measured and verified by a panel of independent experts. These experts include the Irish Food Board, known as Bord Bia with the implementation of their Ag Nav Tool. The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and Senus also provide independent expertise on areas of soil health and animal breeding.
Read more about our Digestate initiative with Bia Energy and ABP here.
Speaking on the project, Mark Lee, Chief Executive Officer, Sysco, said:
“We are proud to partner with ABP and Aoibhín and to be the first foodservice specialist involved in a research project of this significance. The ultimate aim of Regen is to support the development of farming processes that work in harmony with nature while providing the healthy and high-quality food our customers demand. ”
“At Sysco we are steadfast in our commitment to driving innovation and promoting sustainability across every part of the food industry. This pioneering project, plays an important part in achieving this ambition.”
Future of Farming – Baseline Report from Tipperary Demonstration Farm:
Our first ‘Future of Farming’ baseline report marks an important milestone in our regenerative agriculture partnership with ABP and the Coady family farm in South Tipperary. Over the past year, we have gathered detailed measurements across six key pillars—livestock responsibility, soil health, water quality, crop diversity, biodiversity, and farmer education—to establish a clear starting point for the farm but to also acknowledge some of the work already done by the Coady family.
The baseline results show encouraging performance in several areas, while also highlighting opportunities for continued improvement. By publishing this report, we aim to share transparent, data driven insights into how regenerative practices are performing on the ground and to track progress over the coming years as the project evolves.
See below for a summary of some of our key findings – A full copy of the baseline report is available here.
Key findings from the Sysco ABP farm highlighted:
- A 3.5% lower carbon footprint, compared to the national average within the same beef production system using the Beef Benchmark report data (13.9kg Co2 vs. 14.4kg), which is largely driven by the farm’s adoption of technology, such as improved animal breeding, grassland management and improved animal nutrition. All of which contribute to a reduction in age of finish.
- 79.4% of soil on the farm is at optimum fertility levels compared to the national average of 13 percent. This is driven by the farmer’s commitment to improving soil health via regular soil sampling and development of a soil improvement programme on the farm.
- 14.8% of the farm is dedicated to hedgerows & space for nature, which surpasses Irelands 10% target.
Challenges and opportunities for the coming year:
- A focus on improving water quality–we will look to apply for The Farming for Water EIP to support this workstream.
- Continued focus on improved animal breeding for efficiency and productivity
- Reduce fertiliser usage and reliance on purchased feed
- The Coady Farm is already a high performing farm exploring how and if these learnings be transferred and applied to other farms over the course of this project
Note – Below is additional detail on national averages referenced in this project and report:
- The national soil nutrient averages referred to in this report are derived from the data published in the Teagasc Soil Fertil12.
- The Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine has set a target of 10% of farmers land to be left for nature 3 which is used as a target for this project.
- The data presented in relation to national averages for drystock (carcass weights, age at slaughter, etc.) are all derived from the ICBF Benchmark Report for the farm.