Irish Distillers partners with Bank of Ireland to offer loans to tillage farmers
Pictured L-R: Eoin Lowry, head of Agri Sector at Bank of Ireland, Ciara Egan, Sustainability and Responsibility Specialist at Irish Distillers, Susan Maher, Agri Development manager at Bank of Ireland and Graham Caulwell, head of Sustainability and Compliance at Irish Distillers mark the launch of the partnership in East Cork
Photo Credit: Cathal Noonan
Irish Distillers is partnering with Bank of Ireland to offer Enviroflex sustainability-linked loans, that provide discounted flexible finance, to tillage farmers for the very first time.
Enviroflex loans are designed to incentivise farmers to continue implementing sustainability focused improvements on their land, with Bank of Ireland having already developed a wide range of successful Enviroflex partnerships across the dairy sector throughout 2024.
Irish Distillers is now the first to partner with Bank of Ireland to support the roll-out of Enviroflex loans to the tillage sector, with sustainability-linked financing now available to participants of Irish Distillers’ Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme.
The Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme, launched in 2020, is a tailored sustainability programme for barley growers to support the long-term viability of the spring barley sector in Ireland by incentivising and rewarding growers for delivering environmental and biodiversity initiatives on their farms.
The programme is founded on three major commitments:
- Enhancing biodiversity on Irish tillage farms.
- Improving the sustainability of the spring barley sector
- Supporting farmers in reducing their carbon footprint
To qualify for an additional financial premium as part of this scheme, barley growers are required to implement eight essential measures, and must also choose an additional three to four measures which specifically have a direct and positive impact on biodiversity.
Graham Caulwell, head of sustainability and compliance, Irish Distillers, said: “Irish Distillers has a proud history of buying quality grain from Irish farmers to produce our whiskeys and we are committed to working in partnership with our growers to respond to the challenges of climate change and to promote sustainable agriculture through initiatives such as our Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme.”
Eoin Lowry, head of agri sector, Bank of Ireland, said: “A vast number of dairy farmers looking to enhance their farms sustainability have already availed of Enviroflex loans, and we now look forward to working with Irish Distillers to reward tillage farmers who implement more sustainable farming practises with discounted finance options.”
