People’s attitudes towards organic farming are changing as the number of farmers in conversion grows, according to the Agricultural Consultants’ Association (ACA).
Over 4,000 farmers are now farming organically in Ireland, including around 2,200 who entered conversion in January 2023, following the last round of the €256 million Organic Farming Scheme (OFS).
Many of the new entrants came from the beef and sheep sectors on the western seaboard, attracted by an almost 50% increase in payments under the new scheme.
Organic farming
Mary Lynch, organic specialist with the ACA, told Agriland that organic conversion makes sense for many farmers.
“For a lot of beef farmers now the amount of money made from actually producing beef is getting smaller all the time and it’s getting more difficult with the increasing cost of inputs.
“Farmers began to realise even if they adjusted their stocking rate maybe back a little bit and didn’t spend as much money on inputs and were able to get the extra payments, that financially they’d be better off.
“Organic farmers are more visible in the last few years. People now know someone nearly in every area who is an organic farmer.
“They can see the grass is growing, the cattle look well. They’re chatting to them and often that farmer to farmer encouragement or advice is a very important part,” she said.
The organic specialist added that farmers can see where agricultural policy is going, with a greater emphasis being placed on environmental issues such as water quality and biodiversity.
“Farmers are forward looking. They’re wondering how they’re going to stay farming for the next 10 years.
“They can see organic does have the extra payments, but it will also to help them to be compliant with any other further rules that are coming down the line as well,” she said.
ACA
The ACA has used €150,000 in funding, allocated from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), to train advisors on the regulations around organics and how to prepare conversion plans.
“Now when a farmer approaches their advisor at least they’re getting a positive discussion going and the advisor has the basic knowledge that they need to help the farmer,” Lynch said.
Advisors can also use a WhatsApp group set up by ACA to seek answers to more complicated questions.
More than 70% of the organic conversion plans submitted to the department last year came through ACA members.
Similar to all farming systems, organic is not without its challenges. Due to the war in Ukraine, the cost of organic dairy ration hit around €1000/t, which was not matched by a similar rise in milk price.
It is hoped that an increase in organic tillage farmers could help offset some of the need to import expensive ration in the future.
Another challenge will be to find markets for organic lamb, following “a big increase” in sheep farmers choosing to convert.
Lynch noted that a second meat plant is now processing organic lamb and it will take time for the extra supply to enter the system as full organic conversion takes two years.
The biggest issue when it comes to organic beef has been the lack of continuity of supply needed to pursue market opportunities
“On the beef side we’re fairly confident that the markets will be there. It’s ticking all the boxes for high animal welfare, good environmental standards, no GM [genetically modified] feed; all the things that European consumers are looking for,” she said.
Farm conversion
The ACA organic specialist teaches a dedicated 25-hour course for farmers who are newly converted or who are thinking about conversion.
She noted that many farmers now come to the course with a basic understanding of the rules of organic production in relation to fertilisers and sprays.
The questions from farmers mainly focus on the housing requirements for animals in an organic system, the rules around veterinary medicine usage and incorporating clover into swards.
Lynch is expecting the number of farmers in conversion to substantially increase again when the OFS opens again this autumn.
“We definitely had a certain number of farmers who didn’t join last year because they needed to get their housing in order or maybe they just had a few jobs they wanted to do before they came in,” she said.
“Beef farmers have had a tough year again, so they are going to be looking at options for other ways of trying to keep their income up. Organic is going to tick the box in a lot of cases.
“It’s more and more acceptable now and it’s easier to get the information and that helps. I think there’s a change in attitude in everyone that organics is an acceptable option, that helps as well.
“Things will all add up now and we would hopefully have another 2000 entrants,” she said.
“There’s 80,000-90,000 farmers out there who are stocked at less than 100kg/N/ha/year. Most of those could convert to organic with very small changes to their stocking rate if they could get their housing in order and all the other things that would suit organic.
“A lot of those farmers would have very little changes in their day-to-day practices if they became an organic farmer.
“A 40ha farm is looking at €14,000 extra for the first year, it’s a lot of money,” Lynch added.
Organic farm walks
Organically managed land currently accounts for around 2.5% of the total utilisable agricultural area (UAA) in the country. This compares with an average of 8.5% across the EU.
The Programme for Government contains a target of reaching 7.5% of land farmed organically.
The ACA is planning to run a series of organic farm walks in August and September.
The association will also join DAFM, National Organic Training Skillnet (NOTS), Teagasc, the Organic Growers of Ireland (OGI), the Organic Trust and the Irish Organic Association (IOA) in a dedicated organics tent at the National Ploughing Championships to answer farmers’ questions.