Time to consider a move to organic
Predicting an increasing share of the market for organic, Pat Barry, a Teagasc National Organic Specialist, says the number of registered organic farmers has exceeded 1,100 for the first time, with close to 100,000 acres now under organic production, and the average organic farm being almost 90 acres. And changes to encourage more organic production are on the way in REPS 4.
Teagasc will hold a National Organic Conference on Thursday, May 23, where issues such as the farm conversion process, marketing opportunities and technical issues will be discussed.
In the “Todays Farm” magazine for Teagasc clients, Mr Barry said, “If you think of organic farming and organic food as the preserve of the bearded, wolly jumper brigade, you are well behind the time. Consumers, for a variety of reasons, are willing to pay a substantial premium for food produced organically, and this offers farmers potentially lucrative business opportunities”.
He said “Currently the demand for organic beef, lamb, pig and especially poultry meat is increasing steadily on the home market. Most organic pig and poultry meat consumer in Ireland is imported, and there are export opportunities for beef and to a lesser degree lamb. Meat factories are finding it difficult to fill lucrative contracts because of the shortage of finished beef animals”.
In dairy farming Glenisk Dairies plans expansion from 15 to 100 milk supplies, and from 750 to 5,000 organic cows, within five years, following a link-up with Danone, through its American subsidiary, Stoneyfields Dairies.
“Seldom have such market opportunities existed within the industry, so now is the time to seriously consider converting to organic farming,” according to Mr Barry. “In Ireland, we are playing catch up to the rest of Europe and all experts predict demand will increase”.
