DRAFT

Food, farming and

sustainability

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Welcome
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 Main menu
Click on the section you wish to explore.

Section 1: What is sustainability?

Section 2: Farm Quality Assurance Scheme

Section 3: Economic sustainability

Section 4: Environmental sustainability

Section 5: Social sustainability

Section 6: Challenges

Section 7: Conclusions
End
© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017
 Food sustainability
Food is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘any nutritious substance that
people or animals eat or drink or that plants absorb in order to maintain life and
growth’.

Sustainability is defined as ‘The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level’

or ‘Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an
ecological balance’.

Food Sustainability therefore could be described as adopting practices to produce a

nutritious substance that people or animals eat that will avoid the depletion of
natural resources.

Put very simply, producing food in a way that ensures it will not run out either now
or at some point in the future.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Food sustainability
There are different elements to food sustainability that
will be explored as part of this exercise:

• Economic sustainability;
• Environmental sustainability;
• Social sustainability.

Each of these elements of sustainability is closely

linked.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 What is the Northern Ireland Beef and Lamb Farm
Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS)?
The Northern Ireland Beef & Lamb Farm Quality
Assurance Scheme was developed to give consumers
assurances about the farm end of the production
chain of their food.

It is about farm quality – the quality of the

production methods used, the quality of care for
animals which is practiced, the quality of the farm
environment, and above all the quality of concern for
the customer in producing beef and lamb which is
wholesome, safe and free from unnatural substances.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 What is the Northern Ireland Beef and Lamb Farm
Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS)?
The Scheme has been designed to provide assurances that
Northern Ireland farm quality assured beef and lamb is produced
in accordance with a specified Product Standard which goes
beyond the relevant legislation and demands best commercial
practice.

Cattle and sheep born and reared on farms in Northern Ireland,

which are certified against the NIBL FQAS product standard,
and which pass through an assured supply chain are eligible to
carry the FQAS Logo.

There are 8 main elements to the Product Standard, with a total

of 85 separate elements, referred to as codes of practice or
control points.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 So how does the Northern Ireland Beef and Lamb Farm
Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS) allow consumers to
make sustainable food choices?
Agri-Food is Northern Ireland’s largest indigenous industry, our
biggest manufacturing industry, our largest single employer and
most important exporter.

It is one of the few industries to have recorded sustained growth

during the recession.

This performance has established Agri-Food as our most

successful industry. It plays a vital role in our local economy,
environment and society and, uniquely, has a strong presence in
every town and village throughout the country.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 So how does the Northern Ireland Beef and Lamb Farm
Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS) allow consumers to
make sustainable food choices?
Agri-Food also makes an even greater contribution to jobs and wealth
throughout the local economy through its purchase of goods and services
such as transport, packaging and engineering.

It is estimated that every £1m of food and drink processing output generates
£1.91m in regional economic output and every job in food and drink
processing has a multiplier effect generating almost two jobs elsewhere in the
regional economy.

Enterprises range from small-scale family-owned and locally focused

businesses to larger firms serving the domestic, national and international
retail and foodservice markets and seeking to expand further internationally.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 So how does the Northern Ireland Beef and Lamb Farm
Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS) allow consumers to
make sustainable food choices?
Purchasing produce that carries the FQAS logo
guarantees that consumers are supporting the largest of
the agri-food sectors-Beef and Lamb.

It also guarantees that consumers are supporting their

local economy and that important standards of
production across all three pillars of sustainability have
been met.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Sub-menu
Introduction

Animal health and wellbeing

Summary

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Economic sustainability involves using the assorted assets of the

company (in this case, the farm business) efficiently to allow it to
continue functioning profitability over time.

FQAS has almost 12,000 members. Each member lives and works
in Northern Ireland and the vast majority of scheme members will
be entitled to claim a support payment under the terms of the EU
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

This policy entitles farm business owners to draw down funds to

maintain the profitability of the farm enterprise providing they
deliver a range of public goods in return.

Without this Basic Payment Scheme the vast majority of cattle and
sheep farms in Northern Ireland would struggle to be profitable.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

This chart shows the

impact on Net Farm
Income if direct
payments were
removed.

Both Cattle and Sheep

in Less Favoured
Areas (C&S LFA) and
Cattle and Sheep in
Lowlands (C&S LL)
simply could not
survive.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Consumers who purchase farm assured produce can be

confident that they are supporting a food supply chain
that is economically sustainable AND at the same time
delivers environmental good and social benefits.

Imported foods do not necessarily provide this

assurance.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Animal Health and Welfare
There are key pillars to Farm Assurance:
• Food Safety;
• Animal Welfare;
• Care for the Environment.
 
Economic sustainability does not simply come from a cash
injection to a business. Likewise, economic sustainability for a
farm business will not simply be delivered by relying on a
support payment under CAP.

Economic sustainability is also influenced by a business’ ability

to reduce costs and increase sales revenue.

There are numerous standards with which members of FQAS

must comply that influence costs and sales revenue.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Welfare Standards
An animal that is raised in line with ‘The 5 Freedoms’ will be more productive animals.

The five freedoms are:

1. Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition.
2. Freedom from discomfort and lack of shelter.
3. Freedom from injury, disease and infestation.
4. Freedom from fear.
5. Freedom to display most normal patterns of behaviour
 
Beef and lamb that carries the FQAS logo will have been produced from animals that
have been raised in line with these 5 freedoms.

High welfare, healthy animals are more productive and will avoid the need for
unnecessary veterinary costs for example.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Animal Health Standards
Almost a third of the FQAS standards involve elements of
health and nutrition. Farmers must demonstrate that they
have a strict animal health plan which allows them to
monitor the health of their livestock and work to prevent
incursion of diseases.

Farm biosecurity is a key part of the health plan.

 
Animal nutrition is a key part of good animal health and
sourcing of high quality feed is central to FQAS.

All feed must be produced to designated standards. Well-

nourished animals will be healthier animals.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Summary
• Profitability on Northern Ireland farms is driven by
direct food support payments under CAP. This assists
economic sustainability.

• Animal health, welfare and nutrition all combine to

ensure that the animal production process is as
efficient as possible.

• Increased efficiency means increased profitability

thereby contributing to economic sustainability.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Sub-menu

Legislation

Code of Good Agricultural Practice

Farming and the environment

Summary

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Food produced in Northern Ireland as part of FQAS must be produced in
line with extremely stringent environmental legislation. There are also
numerous voluntary initiatives that food producers partake in to deliver
sustainability.
 
Legislation
Under the Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) and Phosphorus Regulations
2015-2018 farmers must use nutrients in a responsible way.

The Nitrates Directive aims to improve water quality by protecting water

against pollution caused by nitrates from agriculture sources.

In particular, it is about promoting better management of animal manures,

chemical nitrogen fertilisers and other nitrogen-containing materials
spread onto the land.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Code of Good Agricultural Practice
FQAS members must comply with the Code of Good
Agricultural Practice (CoGAP). This code is about how
farmers can help to avoid polluting water, air and soil. It
sets out good management practices to be used on farms.

CoGAP focuses on 3 key areas:

• Water;
• Air;
• Soil.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Code of Good Agricultural Practice

Water
Freshwater is one of our most important natural resources. In
addition to supplying over 50% of drinking water, the network
of rivers and lakes throughout the countryside supports diverse
commercial and leisure activities.

Waterways and associated wetlands are an integral part of our

landscape and make a significant contribution to biodiversity.

Farmland is criss-crossed by a network of water channels fed

by small streams and sheughs. These together with our
groundwater are vulnerable to pollution.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Code of Good Agricultural Practice

Air
Agricultural activities impact on air quality, and are one of the
main sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Cattle production releases considerable quantities of methane,

and ammonia is released during the storage and application of
manures. In addition to the impact on climate change, there is
increasing concern about the odour nuisance from farming.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Code of Good Agricultural Practice

Soil
Soil covers most of the earth’s land surface, varying in depth from
just a few centimetres to several metres.

In Northern Ireland we have a remarkable variety of soils. These are

essential for food production and perform a multitude of key
environmental, economic, social and cultural functions which are
important for life.

This natural resource provides an essential link between the

components that make up our environment.

The challenge is simple - the sustainable use of natural resources,

through reducing any negative impact of agricultural activities on our
water, air and soil.
© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017
 Farming and the Environment
75% of the UK landscape is devoted to farming
meaning agriculture and the environment is
inextricably linked.

The following provides just one example of how sheep

farming can benefit the environment, specifically in
the hills and uplands.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Biodiversity
The uplands hold a complex mosaic of habitats, much of
which has been created or highly influenced by livestock
grazing.

Sheep control the growth of more aggressive plant species,

give mobile wildlife species the chance to move through the
habitat, benefit invertebrates and microbes with dung and
plant litter, and create gaps in the vegetation to allow new
seedlings to grow.

This habitat diversity is brought about by appropriate

grazing supporting species that prefer long or short
vegetation or rely on the interaction between the two.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Biodiversity
Many bird species benefit from sharing their habitat with
grazing sheep, including using naturally-shed wool as
sturdy nesting material and feeding on dung-eating
insects.

Song birds in particular prefer the patchwork landscape

that sheep create by their natural grazing behaviour and
are more commonly found in sheep-grazed areas.

The situation reverses when under-grazing results in the

encroachment of coarse grasses that give a mono-cultural
vegetation structure. Off-wintering of sheep entirely
decreases habitat diversity, and moving them to in-bye
land intensifies use in these areas.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Biodiversity
Invertebrates also flourish around sheep, benefiting from
the dung and utilising the plant diversity within effective
grazing regimes as a food source.

Beetles and their grubs are in turn an excellent food

source for birds and some mammals.

Dung beetles are good for soil health and populations of

certain species, such as the northern dung beetle
(Agoliinus lapponum), have declined in line with less
grazing livestock on historic pastures.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Biodiversity
Sheep can be used to reduce habitats for ticks and,
therefore, reduce the risk to humans of lyme disease and
other animals of louping ill virus.

At the extreme end of the push for reduced stocking rates is

land abandonment.

Destocking or reduced management in the UK has

commonly led to semi-abandonment, where the land is still
viable for future use but is in real danger of total
abandonment.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Agri-Environment Schemes
The Common Agricultural Policy provides support for farmers
under two ‘Pillars’.

Pillar Two of CAP is the EU Rural Development Policy,

aiming for economic, environmental and social improvement
of the countryside.

In the UK nearly 90% of Pillar Two funding is dedicated to

agri-environment schemes, allowing many businesses to
supplement production with environmental practices.

The role of agri-environment will be one of many things to

consider in the discussion about where to prioritise funding
once the UK leaves the EU.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Summary
• By purchasing FQAS beef and lamb products
consumers can be assured that the environment is
being cared for.

• Farming and the environment are not mutually

exclusive.

• The production of food in Northern Ireland is

markedly different to other areas of the world where
water shortages, rainforest destruction and soil
erosion for example can pose significant challenges.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
Sub-menu

Introduction

Primary producers

Employment law

Summary

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
There are different elements that contribute to social sustainability
when looking at food production. Food production involves a range
of people and businesses that form what is known as the food supply
chain. Farmers are the first link in the chain.

Farmers predominately produce a raw material for further

processing by larger more specialised companies who change the
raw material in to a form that consumers want to buy. This more
saleable product is passed on to the final link in the chain-retailers,
who sell the finished product to consumers. Supply chains can be
very complex and involve many different links. Without people the
supply chain would cease to operate.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Primary Producers and Social Sustainability
Northern Ireland is unique in the UK in that the vast majority of farms are family owned.
77% of farms in Northern Ireland are classified as ‘very small’ and the average size of
farms in NI in terms of land area is half that of the UK national average.

This farming structure means that there are large numbers of farming families who live in
remote areas, and at times, areas of significant deprivation. Farming, agriculture and
ancillary industries form an integral part of the social fabric in these areas.

There are 4 times more people employed in agriculture in Northern Ireland than in the
UK as a whole. These people work, live and spend their money in rural areas and
therefore contribute to social sustainability. Purchasing independently certified NI FQAS
produce ploughs profits back in to the local economy.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Social Sustainability & Employment Law
Whilst primary producers of food tend to work in small family run farm
businesses the food processing sector represents the largest manufacturing
employer in Northern Ireland.

Each employee is protected by stringent EU regulations governing the

rights of employees. This includes health and safety regulations, working
time regulations, statutory sick pay, paid holiday and the living wage.

These rights are afforded to UK citizens however this legislation does not
apply to all countries around the world. Working conditions and ethics in
some businesses are extremely poor.

Food produced under FQAS guarantees that the product has been
produced to these standards. The same cannot be guaranteed for
imported produce.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Summary
Social sustainability is about the wellbeing of people
and communities. It is about a thriving community with
equitable policies and diverse populations working and
living together.

Purchasing FQAS products helps to fuel social

sustainability by giving back to rural communities and
supporting a production base that is governed by strict
policies that protect the interests of the people that work
in Northern Ireland.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 CHALLENGES
Profitability
Consumers demand high quality but affordable
food.

The competition among major food retailers for

cheap food means that there is less money to
spread across all of the supply chain partners.

Without direct funding for primary producers

economic sustainability would be under threat.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 CHALLENGES
Labour
One of the significant challenges for the agri-food industry is to
encourage new entrants and young people to work in the sector.

Farming can be a difficult job with long hours spent in a

challenging work environment with physical labour forming a key
part of daily work. School and university graduates see
opportunities elsewhere that appear to offer more money with less
complex work conditions.

New workers are the life blood of the agri-food industry.

Processors too find that many of their workforce are foreign

nationals and Brexit may restrict the supply of this workforce if the
UK sits outside of the single market in the future.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 CHALLENGES
Trade
Post Brexit, if free trade agreements are established
with large exporting countries, for example Brazil,
the long term sustainability of the agri-food sector
would be significantly threatened.

Larger economies of scale, cheaper labour and less

stringent regulation allow countries such as Brazil to
produce more for less.

Under a free trade agreement local food producers

could not compete with these imports. Sustainability
comes at a cost.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 CONCLUSIONS
The 3 pillars of sustainability are all equally
important.

FQAS contributes to food sustainability by delivering

a minimum standard of production.

The FQAS logo lets consumers know that food has

been produced to designated standards in Northern
Ireland.

As a developed country Northern Ireland has

government policies in place that contribute to
sustainability.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 CONCLUSIONS
Production of food in Northern Ireland is done
responsibly and recognises the need for efficient and
profitable food businesses that complement the natural
environment and deliver benefits for people and their
communities.

Farming forms part of the social fabric that knits the

Northern Ireland countryside together and its
importance to the economy is proportionately greater in
Northern Ireland than in other parts of the UK.

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017

 Acknowledgement

For further information, go to: www.food4life.org.uk

© LMC 2017

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2017