Dawn Meats has secured an award for its environmental policies and improvement in its sustainability at the inaugural Energia family business awards. Taking home the award for most sustainable family business Dawn Meats also secured the overall title ahead of 17 other competitors in various categories.

The awards held on Monday 27 May showcase the best of Irish family businesses across the country. Criteria considered for the sustainability award included benefits generated for the wider environment and local community and how sustainable practices are incorporated into day-to-day operations.

Since joining Origin Green in 2012 Dawn has:

• Saved over 350,000 MWH of energy.

• Avoided 90,000t of emissions.

• Saved over 3,000,000 cubic metres of water.

• Constructed seven acres of wetland to support biodiversity.

These actions have been the equivalent of saving the annual energy use of 19,000 homes, the water use of 30,000 homes, and taking 40,000 cars off the road for a year.

Dawn Meats also contributes greatly to the sustainability of the local communities in which it operates, adding €700m through livestock procurement, employment and local sourcing.

Niall Browne, CEO of Dawn Meats, said: "Taking the award for sustainability is a real vote of confidence in our environmental efforts – something which we work incredibly hard at from the management team through to the grassroots of the business. We've set tough challenges for ourselves, but such awards really vindicate the decision to set the bar high on sustainability."

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DawnDirect

Family Business of the Year Award

As part of our commitment to support sustainable beef production Dawn Meats were delighted to work with Animal Health Ireland in setting up the The Beef HealthCheck in 2016 with the objective of informing our suppliers about aspects and management of their animal's health.

AHI Beef Health Programme Manager, Natascha Meunier writes: Our aim is to supply our producers with information to help them improve animal growth rates by identifying any specific health issues.

By targeting the issue, the farmer should be in a position to find a solution and implement it on the most cost-effective basis.

The Beef HealthCheck programme provides information about liver fluke, pneumonia and liver abscesses in cattle presented for slaughter. To date in 2019, an average of 11% of all cattle sent to slaughter had liver damage by liver fluke. Live liver fluke parasites were seen in 2% of cattle at slaughter. The diagram shows the liver fluke, liver abscess and pneumonia recorded at slaughter for heifers, steers and young bulls this year. Young bulls showed a higher percentage of live liver fluke and pneumonia than heifers and steers.

Live liver fluke implies that animals were previously inadequately treated for these parasites which may result in economic losses. Farmers with individual results showing live

liver fluke should review their previous flukicide treatments and dosing methods for the coming season, in consultation with their veterinary practitioner. Adult flukicides will not be effective against immature liver fluke and care must be taken to give the correct dose for the weight of the animal.

The Beef HealthCheck programme has been running since 2016. Current and previous reports are available online, allowing farmers to view summaries of the information for their farm or to compare results between years. This information can be shared with veterinary practitioners to help make decisions on parasite control for the upcoming season.

The online portal for Beef HealthCheck is available through the ICBF website and detailed instructions can be found on the AHI website: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/217859/

Beef HealthCheck

Beef HealthCheck results per carcase type for 2019 to date

Fluke Damage

Heifer

Steer

YBull

Perc

enta

ge

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

Liver Fluke Liver Abcess Pneumonia

What a difference a year makes. From the depths of drought in June 2018 to excellent temperate conditions this year producing record yields of grass which should see the nation’s 2019-20 feed requirements through. The breeding season started on the 22nd April. • All 101 cows that were submitted for breeding

at the start have now been bulled• 93 cows were AI'd in the first 3 weeks• Breeding season lasts for 10 weeks and

finishes on the 1st of July• Scanning for both the cows and replacement

heifers will take place early August• Breeding on the contract rearing farm in

Co. Leitrim, ceased on the 3rd of June• 21 heifers were bulled• 7 repeats during the 6 week AI period• Two teaser bulls are running with the cows. One with each group

• Each teaser bull is fitted with a chin ball harness for marking the cows and the teaser bulls are playing a very active role in seeking cows out who are in heat

• AI used daily, cows are inseminated at midday each day

• If a cow is AI'd at 12 o’clock and if she is still showing signs of cycling that evening, that same cow was inseminated again the next day

• Each cows tail is clipped at insemination time• All the cows were treated for their annual

inactive IBR vaccination • 105 cows and 107 calves at grass, mineral

buckets are with the cows in the paddocks to prevent grass tetany

• All the calves were weighed on the 14th June and the ADG from birth for the bull calves was 1.23Kg per day

• Average weight for the bull calves is 175Kg and the heifers are doing 1.22Kg per day from birth and the heifer's average weight is 171Kg

• All the suckler cows and calves were weighed on the 14th June. This weighing of both the cows and calves will be used for the BEEP scheme

• All the calves have been treated for Lungworms

Newford Herd Update

Male Born 13th FebBirth weight 43 KgsCalving Score 1Sire FSZDam's Breed AAWeight (14th June) 206 KgsADG from Birth 1.35 Kgs

FemaleBorn 24th FebBirth weight 43KgsCalving Score 2Sire FSZDam's Breed HRWeight ( 14th June) 208 KgsADG from Birth 1.50Kgs

Store MalesWeighing Date: 14th June 2019Steers went to grass on 23rd MarchNumber 51Average Birth Weight 45 KgsHousing Weight @ 12th Nov 2018 353 Kgs23rd March Turnout Weight 382 KgsJune Weight 496 KgsADG Since Turnout (23rd March) 1.29 KgsAverage Age 16 mthsADG From Birth to 14th June 2019 0.93 Kg/Day

Store HeifersWeighing Date: 14th June 2019Heifers went to grass on 23rd MarchNumber 53Average Birth Weight 41 KgsHousing Weight @ 8th Nov 2018 333 Kgs26th February Turnout Weight 357 KgsJune Weight 467 KgsADG Since Turnout (27th Feb) 0.98 KgsAverage Age 16 mthsADG From Birth to 19th June 2019 0.98 Kg/Day

Store Animals Weights 2019

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Trade Missionto KoreaDawn Meats recently participated in the Irish Trade mission to Korea to explore the potential for our prime Irish beef and lamb.

Proudly presenting Korean buyers with information and samples of our finest quality assured produce were, left to right:

HE Julian Clare, Irish Ambassador to Korea, Tara McCarthy, CEO Bord Bia, Minister for Ag Michael Creed, Niall Browne CEO Dawn Meats, and Pat Ormond, Country Sales Manager Asia Dawn Meats.

Dawn Meats are proud to support the Irish Sheep Shearing Team as they head to France for the World Championships. It is hard not to admire the skill, dedication, hard work and immense pride that these fine young athletes personify in representing their work, their industry and their country.

Good luck guys!

Shearlympics

Totally TuttoDawn Meats were delighted to take an exhibitor stand at Italy’s Tutto Foods bi-annual food fair in Milan in May.

The Italian market has traditionally been highly important for Irish beef and lamb exports and is expected to be even more so post Brexit.

Our Irish and Italian staff were pleased with this 4 day show in Milan as they continue to grow our footprint in Europe’s largest beef importing nation.

AHI Goes Farming Animal Health Ireland (AHI) is an industry led not for profit partnership between livestock producers, processors, animal health advisers and government. It provides many benefits through knowledge, education and the coordination of effective disease control programmes.

This year AHI, in partnership with Teagasc and the processor members organised on farm information days in 6 counties. We at Dawn Meats were delighted to recommend and work with Michael Mellet in Scrule Co. Mayo where we hosted over 120 visitors in June 2018.

The attendees left the farm impressed with their insight into AHI and the benefits accruing to them as well as the quality of Michaels farm at this KT listed event in Co. Mayo.

Beefing up our GameGiven the popularity of our Black Angus brand in Ireland and overseas we at Dawn Meats continue to challenge our supplier group Angus Beef Ireland (ABI) to oversee the production of high-quality Angus beef for our discerning customers.

ABI have recently purchased Laheens Pierre (AA4878) the All-Ireland 2018 junior Aberdeen Angus champion, bred by Cathal and Cormac Duignan. The whole Laheens herd is performance recorded by ICBF and Laheens Pierre weighed 540kgs at 12 months of age.

Laheens Pierre is a tall, long and exceptionally well-muscled bull. Semen is available to all Angus Beef Ireland producer group members. Order forms will be sent to producer group members in the near future. Semen is also available from Eurogene.

As a first season sire no calving survey is available. We recommend the use of this bull on mature cows only at this stage.

A limited number of straws are available to Dawn Meats suppliers over the coming breeding seasons and the resulting data will be gathered, assessed and published in due course.

For further details, contact:Donal Gilseanan ABIE: info@angusbeef.ieM: 00353 86 1895080

If you require further information please contact our procurement team:

Anthony Dowd Dawn Ballyhaunis Beef 087 2625090Mervyn Foley Dawn Ballyhaunis Beef/Lamb 087 2570783Roger Ryan Dawn Ballyhaunis Lamb 087 2534327Paul Mullaney Dawn Charleville 087 9614323Daniel Bergin Dawn Charleville 087 9178779Conor Howley Dawn Charleville 087 9113953Micheál Murphy Dawn Charleville 086 245 6413Peter Quinn Meadow Meats, Rathdowney 086 2611816Sean Behan Dawn Grannagh 087 2561836Kevin Cullinane Dawn Grannagh 087 4192123Walter Cleary Dawn Grannagh 087 7382295John Neville Dawn Grannagh/Charleville 087 2232469Niall Grufferty Dawn Slane 086 8937517Sarah Gogarty Dawn Slane 086 0485145

Procurement Contacts

Upcoming Events11th Aug Tullamore Show24th Aug Iverk Show6-8th Sept Waterford Harvest Festival17-19th Sept Ploughing Championship5-9th Oct Anuga24-28th Oct Savour Kilkenny

Pictured: Michael Mellet with Dawn Meats and AHI representatives.

Gallimh AbúDawn Meats welcomes Monivea man Iarlaith Collins onboard as Newford Farm Manager.

Iarlaith comes from a family farm with a strong suckling and beef finishing tradition and has added further experience by recently managing a 600 calf to beef unit in Roscommon.

We wish Iarlaith all the best as he replaces Matthew Murphy who after 5 years in Newford has moved to his new role as Agriculture Manager in Dawn Meats.

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Premium Butcher in Full BloomWith 115,000 visitors travelling to Bloom 2019 armed with €10m in spending power we were delighted to give the Irish public the opportunity to savour some of our prime quality assured beef and lamb once again this year.

Our annual visit to Bloom is beneficial in many ways not only in terms of sales but for brand recognition and the greatly valued feedback from both rural and urban visitors alike.

The feedback received has been heartening and will help us to refine our offering through our "Premium Butcher" network of factory shops and on-line offering in the months ahead.

Waterford Viking MarathonThrough all weathers some 40 Dawn Meats staff in the south east trained since March to support Waterford Hospice in the recent Waterford Viking Marathon.

Whether walking, trotting, jogging, running or all of the above, our team raised over €7,000 for the cause.

"Bloom has grown into a showcase for the best in Irish food, drink and horticulture." Tara McCarthy, Bord Bia's CEO

Challenging TimesGiven the abundance of vital minerals, vitamins and positive nutritional benefits associated with beef consumption it is sometimes hard to understand the level of negative commentary on the subject of red meat consumption in mainstream and social media by small but vocal groupings of environmentalists, medics and dieticians.

Beef and Lamb has sustained humanity over the millenia and continues to be a critically important source of nutritionally dense for the vast majority of consumers.

In supporting sustainable beef consumption, Dawn Meats are delighted to participate in the 2019 Word Steak Challenge which takes place in Dublin this summer, with competitors present from all over the world.

Recording the FactsAs our business grows in China and we learn more about this market we continue to realise the opportunity to premiumise our beef and lamb there.

We were delighted to welcome celebrity tv chef Champion Gu and crew, bringing them to visit farms and our Premium Butcher shop in Waterford to let their 150million viewers see just why our grass-fed beef and lamb are so uniquely special.

Mercosur DealAt a macroeconomic level, the EU Mercosur trade deal announced recently, appears to offer many benefits for European trade but is also expected to have a negative impact on Ireland's beef industry. All stakeholders in the Irish beef industry have lobbied hard at all levels in Dublin and Brussels on the potential negative implications for farmers incomes, price stability, the environment and rural economies generally, which would result from increased access to the EU market for South American beef.

During the last two decades we argued:

1 - imports must not be allowed to be in the form of steak cuts only

2 - the imports must have equivalent standards of production, welfare and sustainability to those demanded of us from EU consumers

3 - the Mercosur deal should not take effect until Brexit is worked through

Whilst the deal is now done, we will not see

the true effects until beef under this new quota begins to arrive in Europe in 2022 by which time we hope the effects of Brexit will have been sorted.

Key Points

• The 99,000 T will be split 55% / 45% fresh / chilled & frozen product

• The new quota will be phased in after 6 annual installments

• Of the 99,000 T Brazil is earmarked for 44,000 T and Argentina 30,000 T

• The earliest first traunch will apply in 2022

• Brexit expected to take effect on Oct 31st 2019

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