Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Senator Pippa Hackett attended the first “Growing Organics” farm walk of 2024 today (Wednesday, May 1).
The event was held on the dairy and tillage farm of Bill and Marianne George in Arles, Co. Laois who have been farming organically for over 20 years.
The stocking rate on the grazing platform without artificial inputs is running at 2.5 livestock units (LU) per hectare, with the overall stocking rate on the farm at 1.7LU/ha.
“Like any farming system, there are challenges to be overcome when switching to organics, and it was great to hear Bill and Marianne discuss those challenges, and the solutions, so openly,” Minister Hackett said.
“There has been plenty of discussion about organics and its pros and cons over the last few years, but nothing beats talking to an organic farmer and getting honest answers to your questions.
“I’d really encourage farmers to keep an eye out for organic farm walks in their area over the coming weeks and months, and to go along if they can at all to hear for themselves how it works day-to-day on the ground,” she added.
Organics
This is the second year of the Growing Organics programme which is part of the government’s efforts to increase the number of organic farmers in the country.
Ireland’s Climate Action Plan has a target of 10% of land area farmed organically by 2030.
The farm demonstrations, jointly run by DAFM, Teagasc and Bord Bia, involve four regional farm walks per year between May and November.
In addition, the six new organic advisors appointed by Teagasc last year will organise around 24 additional farm walks across the country to allow farmers to attend local events.
A total budget of €256 million has been allocated to the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) over the lifetime of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
An 1,050 additional farmers joined the scheme this year meaning that the land area farmed organically will now be approximately 225,000ha (5%) with over 5,000 farmers involved.
DAFM has also developed a payments calculator which displays the value for each farmer of converting to organic which is available through its website.
As the month of May begins, Minister Hackett said that all farmers will be hoping for good weather to complete work which had been building up in recent weeks.
“It’s been a long, hard winter for Irish farmers. We’re facing challenges like never before around generational renewal, water quality, climate change, and ensuring that farmers have a decent standard of living and quality of life.
“I think stories like that of Bill and Marianne, and a farm system like theirs, will give farmers real food for thought coming off the winter of 2023/24,” she said.