It’s all about diversification for tillage farmers

WITH the feed needs of the organic beef and sheep sectors to satisfy, as well as 1,800 tonnes required by Flahavans for porridge, organic oats is becoming attractive for farmers.

One such farmer is Richard Galvin of Portlaw, Co Waterford. “I’ve been in oats for 10 years, and for the last five, I’ve been organic,” says Richard.

Explaining why he decided on organic oats, he states, “I was growing beet, and when the contract went, conventional tillage wasn’t really worth it. We tried it, but we could see that oats were the better option. They could be grown commercially, and of course Flahavans were interested too.”