Our Lee Strand farmers are mostly third or fourth generation farmers and are all located within a 15km radius of our processing plant. Lee Strand believes that to operate sustainably it must source raw materials that have been produced in a sustainable manner.
Milk is Lee Strand’s main raw material and therefore it is important to ensure that farmers produce milk according to recognised and independently verifiable sustainable standards. Since January 2019, 100% of all milk supplied to Lee Strand is sourced from farms certified to the Bord Bia Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS). This scheme demonstrates that milk is produced sustainably under an accredited scheme.
Our focus over the next five years will be to improve sustainability on our farms, in particular the higher stocking rate farms.
We continue to work with our farmers to assist them in preparing for SDAS inspections and in achieving sustainability objectives.
In 2020, this assistance was vital in providing technical support for online activities and developing a strategy for remote auditing for SDAS. Lee Strand encourages our farmers to apply for grant aid to purchase Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) II.
Lee Strand farmers are involved in environmental schemes including GLAS, REAP and AEOS. These schemes help to protect the environment and produce food sustainably.