Teagasc will hold a series of ‘Let’s Talk Organics’ webinars this spring. The webinars, featuring Teagasc organic specialists along with organic farmers, will cover various technical aspects of organic farming.
They will be of interest to farmers already farming organically, those in conversion, and those thinking of switching to organic production.
The first in the series of webinars takes place next Wednesday (February 8) at 7:30p.m and will focus on converting beef housing to meet organic standards.
Organic farming
Teagasc organic specialists Elaine Leavy, Joe Kelleher and Martin Bourke will focus on what organic producers need to do to convert their cattle housing to meet the organic farming standards for beef production.
They will be joined on the webinar by organic farmers Fergus Hanly from Co. Limerick and Tadhg and Claire Halpin from Co. Clare, who will share their experiences of converting beef housing to meet standards required for organic production.
The next webinars in the series are:
- Wednesday, March 8 – feeding the ewe pre- and post-lambing in an organic situation;
- Wednesday, April 5 – growing red clover silage to finish beef cattle.
Speaking in advance of the Teagasc ‘Let’s Talk Organics’ webinar series, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for land use and biodiversity, Pippa Hackett said: “I am delighted to see Teagasc hosting these webinars which will be a great source of information for all organic farmers, be they existing, from our recent record intake of new organic farmers, or prospective new applicants who will apply when the scheme reopens in autumn of this year.
“This government has a strong vision for organic farming, and events such as these are invaluable in showing farmers the opportunities that exist in organic farming and providing practical information about what changes, if any, they will need to make to join the growing number of Irish organic farmers.
“This will be another successful year for organic farming in Ireland and I encourage all farmers to ensure they are not losing out and consider becoming an organic farmer in 2023.”