ADVERTISING FEATURE: Agri Audits helps farmers prepare better

IRISH food and drink exports are now worth more than €10bn annually.
In order to protect and further develop these extremely important markets, Irish food producers and processors must demonstrate that they produce the best and safest food in the world through regular verification of traceability and sustainability. 

This has led to increased paperwork for farmers, who must now undergo more audits and inspections from the Department of Agriculture and Bord Bia in areas such as health and safety, nitrates, carbon navigator, etc.
Stephen O’Mahony comes from a farming background near Ballineen.
After qualifying with an honours degree from CIT, he began working for Lisavaird Co-Op preparing producers for the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme. Through his work in this area, he identified that there was a strong demand amongst farmers for a service which would help them to prepare for inspections and audits. 

Commencing as a sole trader with the establishment of O’Mahony Farm Services – one of just four finalists for the Best Start-Up Business awards in the prestigious Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneurs 2015 awards – it became evident that there was big demand for this service which, in turn, led to the setting up of Agri Audits Ltd. 

As audits and inspections continue to become more frequent and ever-more complex, farmers increasingly need professional assistance to prepare for them. Stephen engaged IT and agricultural consultants and designed a system to facilitate and streamline the preparation work associated with farm audits. 

Agri Audits now has four qualified advisors in the Cork area, who will professionally prepare farmers for audits. These audit advisors will visit your farm, conduct a physical check of the farmyard and animals, updating of cattle and flock registers, medicine purchase and usage records, health and safety statements, etc.
All records will be reviewed at the company’s office and printed copies will be provided for the farmer.
Trained advisors also provide guidance to ensure the farm’s compliance with official requirements in areas such as health and safety, carbon footprint, departmental inspections and more. This service is available to all beef, dairy and sheep farmers. 

Bandon Co-Op milk supplier Pat O’Neill said: ‘I found it to be a brilliant service. It resulted in my audit being stress-free and I would recommend it to all farmers.’
 Kieran Butler, a beef producer in Barryroe Co-Op, declared: ‘it’s similar to a pre-NCT test and you’re properly prepared for inspections when they come.’ 

The services of Agri Audits enables farmers to spend more time at farm work rather than on tedious ‘paperwork.’ They can concentrate on managing their farms knowing that their paperwork is in order. 

Con and Mary Barrett, Lisavaird Co-Op suppliers, described  the Agri Audits service as ‘a very good and beneficial service, which should prove to be very helpful for the farming community.’
All farmers need to do is keep all their receipts and scripts, note all relevant events in their farm diary, e.g. details of dosing and other treatments, dates of slurry and fertiliser usage, etc and Agri Audits will do the rest.
John Buckley, a Drinagh Co-Op supplier, said he believed the service had great potential: ‘Inspections and audits are very stressful on farmers and this service will alleviate a lot of stress and strains for farmers.’

• For more information contact one of Agri Audit’s office staff on 085-7461543, email [email protected], log on to www.agriaudits.ie or Facebook Agri Audits.