The organisation representing hill farmers has called for a “comprehensive review” of the Organic Farming Scheme.
The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) said that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has sought feedback on the current selection criteria for entry to the scheme, but that this alone “won’t be enough”.
The association raised this issue recently with Minister for State for land use and biodiversity Pippa Hackett.
“Currently, the maximum payment rate can only be achieved for livestock farmers if they maintain a minimum stocking rate…with a significantly reduced payment for farmers that don’t achieve this,” O’Donnell said.
“This policy actively discriminates against extensive farming systems, many of which are restricted by national and EU law from carrying higher stocking rates, such as those farming on Natura 2000 sites,” O’Donnell claimed.
“This issue was discussed in our meeting with Minister Hackett where we got confirmation from a department official that the decision to introduce this was made in Ireland and is not an EU requirement,” he added.
The INHFA has made a submission to the department on the scheme which, the association said, covers these issues as well as the marking system that “undermines access to the scheme for beef and sheep farmers”.
O’Donnell also noted that – with the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy calling for around a quarter of the EU’s usable agricultural land to be under organic farming by 2030 – Ireland was “lightyears away from this”.
“Farmers that are willing to make the transition are deliberately denied access to the organic scheme,” O’Donnell argued.