One cent per litre payment offered in updated Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus scheme

Dairygold is updating its Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus to offer a 33% increase in the payment which will result in approximately €14 million being paid out to participating farmers annually.
The Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus was introduced in 2023, offering 0.75 cent per litre (equivalent) of milk to participating Milk Suppliers. Since its launch in 2023, Dairygold has paid out more than €17m to participating Milk Suppliers. 93% of milk supplied to Dairygold is sourced from farms participating in the Grassroots programme.
The updated Milk Supplier Sustainability bonus offers Dairygold Milk Suppliers the opportunity to receive 1.00 cent per litre (equivalent) by participating in impactful sustainability actions, including protecting water quality, use of protected urea to reduce greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, participation in a soil health programme, engaging in milk recording herd health and genetics programmes along with farmer training and education.
The updated 2025 Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus Programme includes new elements, focused on farm nutrient balance training and action, and on herd genetics.
Nutrient balance is a leading metric for water quality impact. Awareness of it at individual farm level will help to drive additional appropriate action to protect water quality. The herd genetics measures, including dairy beef, will further enhance herd performance to support more sustainable and profitable farming.
Speaking at the launch of the updated Dairygold Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus, Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection said: “I’m delighted to be here today launching Dairygold’s updated Grassroots Sustainability programme. Dairy processors across Ireland, including Dairygold, are doing a lot of proactive work with their milk suppliers to improve the sustainability of our dairy industry. The dairy industry is Ireland’s largest and most successful indigenous industry, supporting thousands of farming families across the country. It’s through participation on programmes such as Grassroots that our family farms can future proof their operations to ensure we maintain our world-class dairy industry into the future.”
Also commenting on the launch, Dairygold Chief Executive Michael Harte said: “Our Milk Suppliers have made great progress in adopting more sustainable farming practices since the launch of the Grassroots Bonus Programme in 2023. We saw a requirement to update the bonus programme to reflect the changing nature of the challenges facing the agriculture industry, and we’re confident the updated Grassroots programme will go a long way towards addressing those challenges. We’re here to support our Milk Suppliers in their efforts to make the dairy industry more sustainable, as without them, there is no dairy industry.”