Irish dairy farmer promises 270 days of grazing

Irish dairy processor Dairygold has launched a label that emphasizes the term grazing in capital letters. The label is called 'Pastureland' and promises dairy from cows that have 270 days of grazing per year.

Dairygold, the third largest dairy processor in Ireland, has further elaborated on their definition of outdoor grazing. They say that the dairy cows of the dairy company's approximately 3.000 suppliers are grazed on average 270 days a year. A spokesperson for the company says in Irish media that the cows are 97% grass-fed.

Market globally
With Pastureland, Dairygold is trying to market this concept globally. They claim that grass-fed dairy is the most sustainable, tastes the best and is also the most healthy. In the coming months, the dairy products (from cheese to milk powder) will be provided with the quality mark.

The definition that Dairygold promises is much higher than with us. In the Netherlands in 2012 it was Grazing Agreement drawn up. This quality mark means that the cows are outside for at least 120 days a year, 6 hours a day. In Ireland they sometimes jokingly say that they only really use grazing and that Dutch cows only have lunch outside.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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