Investing in beef sustainability

As part of our journey to net zero, we are investing in beef sustainability on farms in Ireland and the UK.

Our burgers are made from 100% Irish beef, and we’re proud to work with over 9,000 farmers who are all approved by nationally recognised farm assurance schemes, such as Bord Bia.

We launched our Farm Forward programme in 2012 and partner with suppliers and experts to help Irish and British farmers to become more sustainable, resilient, and to protect animal welfare. In recent years we have evolved the programme to invest in the farming industry through research, education and training.

As part of our journey to net zero, we continue to fund innovative carbon reduction pilots on beef farms in Ireland and the UK.

The experts we work with are helping to develop blueprints for beef sustainability and our aim is for the lessons we learn here to be scaled up and applied to farms across our supply chain.

We are also a founding member of the European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability, working with farmers and industry experts to develop targets that monitor and drive progress on the health and welfare of cattle and support the farmers that rear them.

Driving innovation through research

As a founding partner of FAI Farms, we have conducted independent research for over twenty years to develop and create sustainable farming practices for the food industry. In February 2020, we launched the Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing Project to demonstrate the benefits of applying regenerative principles to beef farming through adaptive multi-paddock grazing for beef cattle. We anticipate that this approach will deliver environmental benefits, including improved soil health, a greater diversity of wildlife and species, and an increase in the removal and storage of carbon.

In 2023, we launched a project involving 11 beef farms, covering approximately 7,500 acres and over 3,500 cattle in England and Wales, to share best practices in regenerative grazing, building on our AMP Grazing Project with FAI. This project will measure the impact of applying regenerative principles on nature, soil, biodiversity, water, carbon sequestration and climate resilience.

In 2021 we were awarded the Sustainable Food and Farming Award by Compassion in World Farming for the pioneering regenerative beef project with AMP.

Learn more about this project in this short film.

Beef farming carbon report

We commissioned an independent study to look at ways to reduce carbon emissions on over 200 Irish and British beef farms. By focusing on factors like daily liveweight gains, improving animal health and maximising home-grown feed, farmers reduced their carbon footprint by nearly 23% over a six-year period and identified annual savings of up to £23,000.

 

Influencing industry change  

We were founding members of the recognised industry forum, the European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability (ERBS), which is helping to shape beef sustainability in Europe. The four themes of work for the ERBS, which are supported by eight goals, are to: improve the environmental footprint of farming systems, to preserve the effectiveness of animal medicines in beef farming through the responsible use of antibiotics, to improve animal health and welfare, and to improve the resilience of farm businesses.

In 2016, McDonald’s Ireland became the first foodservice company to achieve Origin Green certification. It’s the world’s only national food and drink sustainability programme. To achieve certification, our sustainability timelines and targets had to be verified to an independent standard. These included our commitments to sustainable sourcing and environmentally friendly operations.

We also report against McDonald’s global goals for beef sustainability.

Find Out More

Memberships and Forums

Bord Bia - Irish Food Board

European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability

Origin Green

The people behind our Plan

"There is a personal sense of achievement as over the years we’ve worked hard in our farming business to achieve and maintain a good standard of beef production, recognising the requirements of the consumer and their expectations of traceability and animal welfare."

Ray, Beef farmer, Ireland

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