The Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured Cereals Scheme (NIFQACS) has been revised and updated for the 2014 harvest.
Purchasers of assured local grain should be aware that -
The grain passports which must accompany each consignment of cereal will now have stickers applied which are valid for 1 season.
Deliveries in the current season should be accompanied by a passport with a red sticker – see sample right!
Passports must now include trailer identification as well as vehicle registration number.
The frequency of farm inspection has now been increased to 18 months in line with other farm assurance schemes.
Other enhancements are aimed at improving the effectiveness of pest control and at managing the risk of mycotoxin contamination in grains.
A register of all participating growers is available from Northern Ireland Food Chain Certification (NIFCC) Tel – 02892 633017 and can be viewed on www.nifcc.co.uk
Good communication within an integrated supply chain in order to match growth with market opportunities is the way forward for the Northern Ireland agri food industry.
This was one of the comments from Clarke Black, Chief Executive, Ulster Farmers Union when he spoke at a recent NI Grain Trade Association meeting. He pointed out that the industry here had excellent facilities producing top quality products backed by natural resources and innovative people and companies, but they need to work closely together throughout the supply chain to brand and promote Northern Ireland.
Communication within the chain is vital to meet the innovative challenges. He cited the recent situation in the beef industry where specifications changed but there was a lack of communication regarding the proposed changes and the reasons for their implementation.
Demand for food is growing throughout the world providing market opportunities both locally and internationally. It is important that we understand the needs of international markets - it was noted that Ian Marshall the UFU President was part of the delegation from the LMC in China recently. Clarke emphasised that each country has its own unique procedures for doing business and product specifications. We must familiarise ourselves with these markets.
Such developments will provide innovative challenges in terms of policy, product development, marketing, quality control and branding but the opportunities are there to grow and develop our industry if we co-operate and communicate.
Commenting on CAP support Clarke pointed out that it is almost £300 million per year coming into Northern Ireland and is 87% of total farm income therefore it is vital to maintain it. He pointed out that this support was originally coupled to numbers of livestock and acres of grain but the current proposals are to have it paid on an area or hectarage basis which, in effect, will move the support away from areas with a higher productive capacity and which offer greater support for the economy. However, he stressed that we must also find a way of supporting those in the more disadvantaged areas, particularly beef producers in those areas. It is vitally important that these changes in support must also be phased in gradually in order to give farmers time to adjust.
Clarke concluded by commenting on the lack of decisions from government for the agri food industry and especially on the “Going For Growth” strategy. He said, “We need support from government, regulators and the financial institutions to ensure a fully integrated agri food chain that is co-operating to take advantage of all of the innovative market opportunities that will be available.”
NIGTA UFU Meeting June 2014
Alan Johnston, who is responsible for all of Moy Park's feed mills throughout the UK has been elected President of the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association (NIGTA).
Alan began his career with O'Kane Poultry in 1997 as a Broiler Field Officer and in 1999 moved to McLarnons Feed Mill as assistant Mill Manager and then progressed to the role of General Manager. In November 2010 he took up his current position with Moy Park as UK General Manager, Feed Mills, responsible for over one million tonnes of feed annually
Commenting on his role in NIGTA he pointed out that the work of the Association covers a wide spectrum including feed quality and traceability plus environmental issues, liaison with other farming organisations and lobbying on behalf of the agri food industry. He added “We are currently progressing our Food Fortress scheme to ensure that farmers here have leading world standards of feed safety and traceability.”
Alan is a past pupil of Clough Primary School, Co.Antrim and Cambridge House Grammar School, Ballymena. He was also a member of Glarryford Young Farmers Club.
From a farming/milling background he said ” My father worked for Morton’s Flour Mill in Ballymena, and that is possibly where I got the bug for milling”
Alan studied General Agriculture at Greenmount specialising in advanced nutrition and spent his industry placement year working in the turkey department at O'Kane Poultry and on a Canadian beef lot..
He has a keen interest in rugby, having played 1st XV at school, then captained the Greenmount team, played for Ulster Colleges and Universities, and at club level for Ballymena and Ballymoney.
NIGTA members attending the launch of the Food Fortress pilot scheme for compounders were not only reassured regarding the impact and effectiveness of the scheme, but were totally impressed by the support that it would have from the Global Food Security Unit at Queens University - a unique and world leading facility.
Chris Elliott, Professor of food safety at QUB told his audience that this £33 million investment which had funding from global organisations such as the Gates Foundation can take feed and food testing to a whole new level and give the agri food industry in Northern Ireland a major competitive advantage.
This cutting edge technology is attracting interest from the major retailers such as Tesco and Marks and Spencer who wish to monitor and test for contaminants in order to avoid food scares such as the recent horse meat scare.
These comments were supported by Professor Pat Wall from University College , Dublin, who has been involved with the Food Fortress scheme since its inception. He pointed out that the food chain is now a very complex one with ingredients for animal and human food sourced from around the world. The animal feed industry is at the very beginning of this chain - it is like the foundation of a house – something wrong at this stage can undermine the entire building.
Owen Brennan, NIGTA President, pointed out that the increase in global population along with the increase in incomes will have a big effect on food production. Northern Irelands ambitious plan for growth in the Agri food industry can only be delivered with the highest standards of quality and safety and the Food Fortress will be a key element of that strategy for growth. Queens work in analysing the history of incidents in the Food Chain and their risk assessments are the basis of the new scheme. They highlighted the potential for a coordinated program to bring together all the testing currently carried out to deliver a much more robust scheme to protect the industry.
When thanking the speakers for their input and the NIGTA members for their attendance Owen Brennan emphasised that the launch of Food Fortress would be greatly enhanced if those present communicated the information they had received to others in their company and even more importantly, to their customers.
The operation of the Food Fortress pilot was detailed by Robin Irvine, Chief Executive of NIGTA. The pooling of information was a key element with samples called off on a rota basis to ensure a spread across all raw materials, across the main contaminants and throughout the year. This bank of information would be the key to dealing with future problems in that an incident can be viewed against the background of the whole testing program. This will help inform regulators and should ensure a proportionate response to issues as they arise. The use of composite samples will ensure that costs are kept to a minimum and mean that scheme members will have a much greater level of assurance for the money they spend.
NIGTA Queens University Visit September 2013
The provinces livestock sector will benefit from a new, world leading initiative to improve feed and food safety. Having completed a very successful pilot scheme the Food Fortress program is now being implemented by two major sectors of the agri food industry and will give NI produce a unique advantage in the highly competitive global food market.
Commenting on this development, Agriculture Minister, Michelle O’Neill said “It is pleasing to note how NIGTA, local companies and our Institute of Global Food Security at QUB have driven forward the Food Fortress Feed Assurance Project to help protect our food and feed supply chain. This will help ensure the production of safe animal feed, underpinning our local Agri-food sector; and it will be an invaluable tool in developing further export markets to support the overall aims and objectives of the Agri-Food Strategy Board.”
The scheme has been extensively trialled and the outstanding results returned from the six month pilot program has brought an immediate response from the industry with the broiler sector becoming fully engaged in the scheme and the inclusion of the Food Fortress in the newly published standard for the Farm Quality Assured Beef and Lamb schemes.
Ian Stevenson, Chief Executive of the Livestock and Meat Commission speaking at a meeting of feed compounders from North and South of the border in Armagh this week said “The scheme has proved highly successful and cost effective in delivering a much higher level of surveillance of the feeds supplied to local farms and this has prompted us to include it in our Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Schemes.”
Food Fortress was developed in partnership with the Global Food Security Unit at Queens University led by Professor Chris Elliott who commented “This scheme puts the animal feed trade in Ireland ahead in the world. I congratulate the trade on having the foresight to utilise the scientific knowledge and modern technology to carry out this detailed sampling, and monitoring plan.” He added “As the first link in the food chain you are setting an excellent example. This must be followed throughout the food chain, with the ultimate aim of testing and monitoring everything that is imported into or exported from Ireland.”
The Food Fortress programme was set up in response to the recommendations of the Industry Feed and Food Assurance Group following the serious dioxin contamination in 2008. This group represents all aspects of the agrifood industry and aims to reduce the commercial and food safety risks of contamination.
Robin Irvine, Chief Executive of the NI Grain Trade Association (NIGTA) said “The feed trade has been working closely with Queens to develop a feed assurance system which will help ensure the safety of all feed materials coming into the island of Ireland and will continue to monitor them through the processing and transporting of the animal feed to the farm gate. A detailed analysis of all sources of contamination and monitoring systems has been developed in conjunction with a comprehensive sampling and testing regime.”
NIGTA President, Alan Johnston , pointed out that this scheme was part of the feed trade’s efforts to support the “Going For Growth “ and “Harvest 2020” strategies which have been developed to assist the island of Ireland meet certain growth targets in the agri food industry by the year 2020. He emphasised that similar efforts are required throughout the food chain and support must be forthcoming from government, the regulators and financial institutions. .He added “It is important to remember that the agrifood industry is a major export earner, the leading private sector employer and vital to the economy of Ireland – both North and South.”
Food Fortress Meeting Armagh 2014
It was a “welcome back” situation when Colin McDonald, Chief Executive, RUAS spoke at the NI Grain Trade Association’s annual general meeting. Colin is a former Executive Committee member and former Vice President of NIGTA.
Commenting on Colin’s success in spearheading the change in location for the Balmoral Show last year to the new site at the Maze, NIGTA President, Owen Brennan said that losing Colin before he took up the NIGTA Presidency was a loss for the Association but was certainly a “win,win” for the RUAS. The mammoth task of moving to the Maze had taken years of planning , enormous attention to detail, hard work and the persuasive skills to convince RUAS members and the public that it was the correct decision.
NIGTA members enjoyed Colin’s enlightening presentation which started with the aviation history of the new site, followed by its political history. He outlined the Master Plan for the move and the various hurdles that had to be overcome including the regulatory aspects.
However the efforts of Colin and his team were well rewarded when the Balmoral Show 2013 was a resounding success with a massive attendance. Indeed it was such a success that trade stand space is fully booked for this year.
Commenting on the RUAS’ recent financial report Colin said “ At present we are asset rich and cash poor but hopefully that will change in the near future.”
Presenting NIGTA’s financial report to the AGM, Stephen Burrell, Honorary Treasurer, announced that NIGTA was also cash poor and unfortunately was also asset poor. However the Association had ended 2013 with a very small surplus and this was an encouraging result considering the introduction of the Food Fortress scheme, the appointment of a Chief Executive and the amount of political lobbying and liaison with other farming organisations.
The election of office bearers resulted in Alan Johnston being elected President, Stephen Burrell being re-elected Honorary Treasurer and David Malseed being re-elected Honorary Secretary.
NIGTA AGM 2014
After a morning of meetings concentrating on the serious aspects of the agri food industry the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association finished its quarterly meeting in December with a Christmas lunch and some very serious competition.
The Secretary, Doris Leeman arranged a photographic competition where four members photographs had been disguised with a Christmas character, but it was her competition to assess members knowledge of Text and Internet Lingo that really highlighted the age range in the organisation.
After much debate , discussion and plenty of good humour, Amanda Keys from Devenish Nutrition was declared the first prizewinner with three people tying for second place - Caroline Donaldson, Devenish Nutrition; Alan Thompson, JohnThompson and Sons Ltd and Janet Arneill , Trouw Nutrition.
A special prize which was donated by Columba O'Hare, Fotacol was won by NIGTA President, Owen Brennan.
NIGTA Christmas Lunch 2013
Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association Chief Executive Robin Irvine has confirmed that compound feed prices will fall across all the livestock sectors, as new season grain and soya crops become available over the coming months.
He added:
"Pig and poultry farmers have already seen the benefit of reduced grain prices as those wheat and barley based diets have been the first to reflect the new harvest prices. As new crop material comes on stream and prices ease for some of the non grain materials, reductions will take effect across the range of feeds including ruminant rations in the coming weeks.
"Further reductions can be expected as harvests progress in other parts of the world and it will take the safe arrival of new crop maize and soya later in the Autumn to bring the full impact of global price reductions and a welcome ease in production costs for local producers.
"Demand for feed materials has been at record high levels for the last twelve months or so and world stocks have been depleted for a number of key commodities. There has been concern that supplies of some materials would not carry through to the new harvest - this has kept the markets nervous and spot prices have been strong .
"Soya has been a particular case in point and while there is a big crop expected in the USA the market is still trading at high prices. The crop was late planting and harvest is likely to be delayed so it will be some weeks before an accurate harvest forecast can be made but it will take a record crop to meet the growth in global demand. Local producers will not see the full benefit of new season prices until the crop is harvested, crushed and shipped to Northern Ireland – probably in November.
"Similarly maize which is the principle cereal used in ruminant rations is firm on the nearby market but looking much more competitive post harvest. Again it will be November before the new crop arrives in Ireland and the full cost saving passed through to livestock producers.
Commenting on these developments UFU President Harry Sinclair said:
"We met with representatives from the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association last week to discuss the outlook for feed costs this winter in more detail. They informed us that it looked like that by mid to late autumn feed prices could ease as supplies across the world should become more available due to the larger forecast harvests. We also heard that the prices of some ingredients, such as soya, are now slightly cheaper in Northern Ireland than mainland GB which is welcome news for our livestock farmers."
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