The Organic Farming Scheme 2022 is open for applications from today (Wednesday, February 9) until April 8, and to coincide with this, Teagasc has organised a series of farm walks and webinars to inform farmers about the possible benefits of converting.
A national webinar organised by Teagasc organic specialists will take place on Wednesday, February 23 at 7:30p.m, and will be on the topic of ‘Applying for the 2022 Organic Farming Scheme‘.
The webinar will be broadcast using online conferencing platform Zoom and participants will have an opportunity to submit questions during the live broadcast.
Speaking ahead of this webinar, Teagasc organic specialist Elaine Leavy said: “A number of important changes have been introduced to the scheme which will make it more attractive for many farmers to consider converting their farm.
“This online event on February 23, and other events organised by Teagasc, will provide more detailed information for farmers to help them make up their minds.”
A second national webinar on ‘Direct Selling of Organic Produce’ is planned for Wednesday, March 30, also at 7:30p.m.
As well as these two national webinars, local webinars will also be organised by the Teagasc advisory service for their farmer clients and anyone else interested in converting their farm.
These webinars – which will be titled ‘Is Organic Farming an Option for Your Farm?’ – will commence on February 16 and take place across the Teagasc advisory regions.
Apart from the online experience, in-person farm walks have also been organised in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and organic organisations.
This series of 12 farm walks will commence on March 2 as 12:00p.m on the farm of Seamus Howard, an dairy farmer in Co. Clare.
Joe Kelleher, another Teagasc organic specialist, said: “We are delighted to announce a series of face-to-face farm walks on demonstration farms, running from early March right through to July 19.
“These 12 farmers are located around the country, and have a range of farming enterprises, so it’s an ideal opportunity to come along and see a working organic farm and to learn from those who are practicing organic farming,” Kelleher added.
“I would like to thank all the host farmers for agreeing to invite visitors into their farms.”
Teagasc director Prof. Frank O’ Mara commented: “Teagasc has a busy programme of activities planned for 2022, for existing organic farmers and for those considering converting.
“We will be adding another specialist to the organic specialist team in Teagasc. This team is working across the advisory regions to upskill our frontline advisors on the opportunities presenting in the new scheme,” O’Mara added.