Ireland ‘well on the way’ to organic farm target

The vast majority of applications are from livestock farms, beef and sheep.

Ireland is “well on the way” to hitting its target for organic farming of 7.5% of farmland being under organic production by the end of the CAP cycle of 2027.

This week, the Department of Agriculture confirmed there were 2,131 new applicants to the Organic Farming Scheme.

It brings it to a total of 3,423 eligible applications to the Organic Farming Scheme that were received by the closing date of December 9 — with 1,292 applications from participants whose contracts were due to expire on December 31. In addition, there are 633 existing contracts in the scheme, bringing the overall total to 4,056.

The Department of Agriculture told the Irish Examiner that the majority of applications are from the beef and sheep sectors.

Teagasc organic specialist Joe Kelleher estimated new entrants will bring the total organic land area to around 4.5%. “We’re well on the way to hitting the target,” he said.

The scheme has proved so popular that there had been some concern that there may not be enough funding for all who applied to take part.

However, Jack Nolan, head of the organics division in the department, said that following the scheme closing date of December 9, work is ongoing into reviewing the applications, and “looking at the areas and looking at the budget”.

“We’ll be able to write to people hopefully in the springtime to say whether they are in or not,” Mr Nolan told a meeting of the Oireachtas joint committee on agriculture, food and the marine.

“We’re aiming to bring in everybody we can. But, the scheme will be open again as planned at the end of next year, and it’ll open every year because there is huge appetite there.”

35% increase in organic land

Mr Nolan said the department aimed to increase organic farmer numbers by 1,000 or more each year over for the next few years.

Mary Carey, head of the department’s basic payments and rural development schemes division in Portlaoise, told the Oireachtas meeting that the 2023 Organic Farming Scheme budget has funding of €37m, an 80% increase on last year.

There has been a 20% increase in applications to join the scheme in total in 2022 in comparison to 2021, bringing in an expected additional 17,000 hectares. 

“Overall, there has been an increase of 35% of land being farmed organically over the last two years,” Ms Carey said.

Irish Farmers’ Association organic project team chair John Curran told the Irish Examiner that all applicants should be guaranteed entry.

He said that the figure of over 2,100 new applicants is very positive, and that education will have a “big role to play” for the new organic entrants, especially knowledge transfer groups being set up locally for farmers.

“It’s attractive because of the rates of payment in the new scheme, and also the reduction in costs that you have in an organic system, with the likes of fertiliser and costs going so high, people will make big enough savings,” Mr Curran said.