People, purpose, process and performance. Improve oversight, planning, accountability, and efficient use of resources.
Identify, assess and mitigate business, non-business, and financial risk within the context of organizational activities.
Align and communicate policies and procedures. Guarantee compliance with legal, regulatory, industry, quality and ISO standards.
The existing business environment in Ireland for Farmers and Green State Farms solution
We are all aware of the unsustainable and dire situation facing Irish farmers. This situation is repeated across Europe and further afield.
What might surprise most farmers is, the root cause of this unsustainable situation is not due to the implementation of European or National regulations, rather it is the failure to implement European or National regulations which provide protections to farmers, protections to consumers, protections for animal welfare and protections for the environment. As a result of this failure, corporate interests have filled this vacuum, whereby the business environment in which farmers operate is one where end to end supply chain management systems are effectively designed for; and controlled by; interests post primary production
The facts are no other sector could function in similar circumstances and no other sector would be expected to tolerate this wholesale disregard for market rules, protections and international standards, yet it persists.
As a member of Green State Farms producer group we will facilitate and negotiate on behalf of our members within the correct definition of market regulations and international management standards, ensuring a fair and equal basis for contract approval
The design of our systems by default puts power back into the hands of producers, with the direction and control of our professional and experienced management team, we will ensure effective management on behalf of our members.
The absence of producer driven management systems and producer management control has allowed corporate supply chain interests to fill the void, effectively prescribing supply chain business requirements onto producers via schemes that are not designed for; or by farmers. The present situation results in restrictive and anti-competitive practices.
This situation is getting worse by the day as the consolidation and rationalisation of farming in Ireland continues unabated.
Existing farming bodies and associations have to date, failed to deliver for farmers interests. This failure may be attributed to multiple factors, however, crucially, this failure arises due to their ‘lack of authority’ to act, whereby the major farmer representative bodies are essentially lobbyists as opposed to producer groups.
This is where we as Green State Farms come in. As a producer group, with your membership and your authority, we can actively facilitate, negotiate, and coordinate the correct systems solutions and reverse the current trend via existing market regulations and international standards, to ensure we do deliver for our members.
Green state farms have already designed the correct solutions to redress these supply chain irregularities and with your membership and support we will put management systems control back where it rightfully belongs, with farmers.
Green State Farms intend to provide full transparency, visibility and accountability across the sector in relation to our process-based activities. We intend to provide a benchmark with which the entire Agri-food sector may be measured against in terms of how they deliver for Irish farming.
We will provide weekly and monthly newsletters via our website so all can see and understand our actions vis a vis the regulatory and standards environment within which we all operate.
We are not satisfied with the current strategy of high-volume, low-cost exports, for what is a premium Irish product. The current strategy pursued nationally calls for the continued consolidation and rationalisation of the Agri-food sector, essentially pursuing an intensive, industrial approach to food production. This strategy necessitates fewer and larger processors and fewer and larger farms, feeding these processors.
This strategy has been pursued for decades and as the name suggests is actively driving farmers out of business, undermining family farms, intensifying production systems with detrimental implications for towns and villages across Ireland, food safety and quality, the environment and animal welfare. This is a short-sighted effort for the short-term gain of select dominant corporate interests.
This strategy is wholly unsustainable environmentally, economically and socially and is unacceptable.
See Harvest 2020 strategy here and the accompanying Business Model for Irish farming Pathways for Growth here.
Green State Farms strategy recognises the inherent value of Irish produce; the features, characteristics and attributes of Irish family farming that distinguish Irish farming from almost all others. Our temperate climate, family farm structure, culture of farming, natural grass-fed production systems and animal welfare produces natural and wholesome beef, dairy, sheep, tillage and horticulture, on farms that are inherently animal welfare friendly and sustainable. We promote Irish produce on behalf of our members, we build individual farmer business brands to develop your business and we create new markets for Irish produce at a premium price.
Irish produce should not be competing with intensively produced, indoor reared animals who rely on anti-biotics and unnatural diets.
The current business model as prescribed by the Pathways for Growth document pursued in Irish agriculture is seldom, if ever discussed publicly Click here
The model refers to 1. Co-opetition and 2. Branding.
The implementation of these schemes as part of the consolidation and rationalisation strategy has the effect of collectivising and corralling farmers into consolidated supply chains to meet the business requirements of corporate supply chain interests who they were designed for.
This model does not have the interests of Irish producers, Irish consumers, the environment and animal welfare in mind, on the contrary, it actively denies protections afforded to farmers, denies protections afforded to economic operators, denies protections afforded to consumers and denies protections afforded to the environment.
As referred to, in the absence of a producer driven management system at farm level, this vacuum has been filled by actors post primary production who in turn prescribe their intensive policies, their business objectives and their business plans onto farmers, via process quality assurance schemes and associated terms of service.
Ironically, at the same time farmers are held responsible for environmental, social and economic sustainability issues which are entirely outside of your control – by design.
It is clear from any objective systems analysis, farmers are not accountable for these failures, are not responsible and have no authority over the consolidation and rationalisation decisions, the anti-competitive business model and non-producer driven process QA scheme requirements, which are outside of their organisational control and which are imposed on them.
Green State Farms unique producer owned and driven sustainability and quality management system is unlike any other quality scheme on the market. Our system is fully compliant with market regulations, aligned to CAP schemes and consistent with international ISO standards. Our scheme was developed in direct consultation with farmers as the intended user organisations and represents a real alternative to existing processor, retailer and non-producer driven schemes currently available. The Green State Farms sustainability and quality management system is specifically designed for; and in support of; farmer organisations.
At present there is a clear absence of any organisation to ensure effective governance and oversight of market rules and standards in the Irish Agri-food sector. There is a clear absence of the required producer management systems to enable producer systems control and a producer driven approach to delivering on actual market, consumer and societal needs. This is incorrect and un-sustainable.
As a producer organisation, the organisation has developed its consistent with ISO international standards and market regulations require.
As a licenced producer organisation, we provide for the very first time in Ireland, an organisation that has the authority and dedicated professional management systems designed to producer needs, fully compliant with EU and national regulations and conforming to international quality, environmental, sustainability, safety and social responsibility standards.
We will bring to bear the management disciplines, rules and standards and their correct application to Irish farming as within every other sector. We will ensure the correct interpretation of rules and standards which protect Irish farmers, Irish consumers, our environment, animal welfare and the public.
We will enforce through our ISO based sustainability and quality management system the correct industry driven i.e. producer driven management systems with a view to enabling and supporting our members economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability.
With the authority of our members, our vision, our purpose, our mission and our stated intention is to bring the required management discipline and standards experience as available to every other sector to Irish farming for the very first time.
We seek to ensure the long-term sustainability of Irish Agriculture and the protection of Irish farmers. Through the collective efforts of all stakeholders, we seek to define and enable true economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability to the benefit of all stakeholders.
The very foundation of the EU internal market relies on the effective functioning of market rules and regulations as stated by our European peers most recently regarding Brexit, sic. ‘EU rules and standards are essential for the required credibility, required confidence and the required integrity of the internal market’. We intend to ensure these standards are maintained to the benefit of Irish farmers.
We understand and appreciate individual farmers do not have the time and in many instances the experience with respect to legal and standards frameworks to tackle these big issues.
As an organisation, we have provided the organisation in the form of our producer group, we have provided the management structure and we have provided the producer management systems.
We need your membership and together we will shape the future sustainability of Irish farming. As a producer organisation, Green State Farms are determined to tip the balance of power back in favour of Irish farmers.
We don’t seek to transform existing regulations rather we seek to ensure the existing supports which protect farmers, protect the environment, protect consumers and protect the wider community are fairly, impartially and objectively implemented by those tasked with ensuring their governance, oversight and implementation.
It is our job in the first instance to interpret and apply fair market rules and management standards as applicable to farmers and secondly to then use these structures to drive farmers businesses, by developing markets, acting as a purchasing group and lobbying hard on behalf of farmers to see these systems as applicable to farmers respected and maintained.
Join our producer group now, allow the Green State Farms to provide the required management functions on your behalf. The current situation is not impartial, it is not objective, it is not independent, it is not credible, there can be no integrity in this process. Farmers, consumers and the public can have no confidence in current systems as required. This is not the basis of an effectively functioning internal market system as required by law.
Join now and be part of the change in Irish farming and create a sustainable future for your families, your community, the environment and our country as a whole. Let Ireland set and example to follow for the rest of our EU farming communities.