The Impact of a Values-Based Supply Chain (VBSC) on Farm-Level Viability, Sustainability and Resilience: Case Study Evidence

Irish beef farms have experienced poor viability longitudinally, reaching crisis levels in 2013. In response to this, beef Producer Organisation (PO) legislation was introduced in 2016 to allow Irish beef farmers to negotiate collectively for the first time and to allow for a greater integration of beef farmers to the supply chain. Given this new enabling environment for collective action among beef farmers and current policy objectives to add value to Irish beef, this research focuses on a US based development paradigm Middle’(AotM) which simultaneously fulfils these objectives. AotM posits that family farms the ‘Agriculture of the must transition from a supply chain to a values-based supply chain (VBSC) approach, involving amendments to both product type and actor dynamics within the chain, to ensure future sustainability. This paper presents a qualitative case study of a US based beef co-operative integrated to a VBSC. We use an analytical framework of viability, sustainability and resilience to analyse impacts at farm-level. Our analysis highlights a number of positive effects on farm-level viability, sustainability and resilience including improvements to market orientation and price stability, among others which provide crucial insights for beef PO development in Ireland. Furthermore, this paper outlines current Irish stakeholder views towards beef POs and highlights some potential caveats of such an approach in the Irish context.