Ireland: Irish Distillers and Heineken to help barley farmers adopt regenerative agricultural practices

Jameson whiskey owner Irish Distillers and Heineken Ireland will work together for three years to help barley farmers adopt regenerative agricultural practices, The Spirit Business reported on March 23.

The three-year study will support farmers to ultimately improve the economic and climatic resilience of malting barley farming in Ireland.

The pilot project is part of a global collaboration initiated by Heineken and Pernod Ricard, parent company of Irish Distillers, on the resilience of agricultural raw materials.

The project will aim to improve soil health, carbon retention, increase biodiversity, improve water quality and improve the livelihoods of farmers.

Additional measures to achieve this will include minimising soil disturbance, increasing crop diversity, increasing soil cover by maintaining living roots all year round, and reducing chemical inputs.

Kathryn D’Arcy, communications and corporate affairs director at Irish Distillers, said: “At Irish Distillers, we have a proud history of buying quality grain from Irish farmers to produce our whiskeys.

“In line with the Pernod Ricard 2030 sustainability and responsibility roadmap ‘Good Times from a Good Place’, we are committed to working in partnership with our suppliers to develop regenerative agricultural practices that enhance natural ecosystems and respond to the challenges of climate change.

“Through the regenerative agriculture pilot programme for malting barley, we will support Irelands’ barley farmers as they strive to reduce carbon emissions while ensuring a sustainable supply for the future of production or Irish whiskey.

“This is a global programme, which is being piloted in Ireland and will run for three years. Along with our partners, we are keen to demonstrate the potential impact of the programme and assess its potential for rollout in other countries.”

As part of the project, non-profit Earthworm will measure various metrics in participating farms, such as soil cover, fertiliser usage, water infiltration and profitability.

Each farm will receive a report detailing its performance against defined indicators, plus areas for improvement.

An annual report will also be made public to track progress, share learnings and best practice.

Earlier this month, the South Africa Competition Tribunal approved Heineken’s €2.4 billion (US$2.56bn) takeover of Distell.

23 March, 2023