Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Pippa Hackett has launched ‘Growing Organics’, a new programme focussed on supporting and increasing organic production.
Annual funding of €150,000 is being provided by the DAFM and Teagasc for the next five years to support the programme.
Organic demonstration farms have been selected throughout the country to illustrate best practice and monitor key financial and environmental metrics.
Meanwhile, the Organic Farming Scheme is due to reopen in autumn 2023.
‘Growing Organics‘
Providing up-to-date technical advice to organic farmers is a key objective of the National Organic Strategy 2019-2025, according to the DAFM.
The organic demonstration farms will focus on:
- Grassland management;
- Livestock nutrition;
- Animal health and welfare;
- Financial management;
- Environmental sustainability;
- Crop management.
The ‘Growing Organics’ Programme is a five-year programme led by Teagasc, which aims to promote the adoption of best practice at farm level to increase the future viability and sustainability of the Irish organic sector.
The results from the activities on the demonstration farms will be made available to all farmers and researchers to significantly improve the data available on different aspects of organic farming.
Minister Hackett said: “We had record attendances at our organic farm walk programme in 2022 including a National Organic Beef Day last September.
“The organic farm walk programme has been reviewed by Teagasc and ourselves. We are certain the best approach is a farm monitoring programme to examine and report how organic farms evolve and perform over five years, particularly with regard to soil health and profit monitoring.
“Along with €256 million CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] funding, this is a key part of the infrastructure needed to support the record numbers choosing to switch to organic farming.”
The minister added that farmers need to know what changes are required when they make the switch to organic farming and this latest programme will discuss these matters and offer solutions
Director of Teagasc, Prof. Frank O’Mara added: “We are delighted to be working with the Department of Agriculture [Food and the Marine] and the organic demonstration farmers on this joint programme.
“I thank the farmers for participating, because this programme will allow other farmers interested in converting to organic farming, and those already farming organically, to learn from these demonstration farmers who are implementing best practice and who are operating organic systems that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.
“This group of demonstration farmers will host farm walks and act as information hubs for other farms to learn from and follow. They will work closely with our Teagasc organic specialist team and our team of specialised organic advisors in the regions.”
Objectives
According to the DAFM, the ‘Growing Organics’ programme will focus on a number of key objectives:
- Increasing the adoption of best practices, especially in relation to grassland management and livestock health;
- The environmental footprint of organic production;
- Establishing a cohort of profitable organic producers;
- Creating greater integration within the organic sector;
- Supporting the sector reaching 10% of land area farmed organically by 2030.
New farm monitoring model
The farm demonstrations will involve four regional farm walks per year between May and November.
The walks will be spread across the main farming enterprises of beef, dairy, sheep, and tillage, and will be geographically dispersed based on participating farms.
These demonstrations will be jointly run and will be resourced and staffed by the DAFM, Teagasc and Bord Bia.
An information booklet will be provided to attendees and information boards will be present at the farm and involve presentations from Teagasc on selected topics.
In addition, the six new organic advisors appointed by Teagasc in the last 12 months will organise approximately 24 farm walks across the country to allow farmers to attend local events.
These walks kick off on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.