Month: May 2018

Great Day out in cork last Wednesday, learning about organic dairy, very interesting set up with regard to organic farming and climate change, his cows were producing as much milk as a good conventional herd but his stocking rate was low at 1.3 LU/ha so milk output per ha was low, on the other hand not much concentrates were used on the farm. It would be a good case study for the topic of GHGs and organics in Dairy

The IFOAM EU is the body which caters for organic policy support and certification on a EU level. Good place for up to date news, especially relating to the much anticipated CAP reform.

http://www.ifoam-eu.org/en/ireland

A happy Hereford cow avails of a relaxing graze as her calf snoozes in the scorching May sun, meanwhile grass is beginning to grow and the ewes have stopped getting concentrate supplements and everything is beginning to thrive here in north Kilkenny. Mixed grazing is an integral part to organic farming as a method of reducing the burden of nematodes picked up from a pasture based system.

Check out the web page for my cousins organic rapeseed oil, very healthy tasty oil but she also shares some interesting thoughts on organics and why we should eat organic produce
https://secondnatureoils.com/

As a little side project to my thesis, for fun I am going to frequently post updates on why to choose the organic lifestyle, this wont necessarily be addressing climate change rather than actually looking at how organics can bring other benefits to our lives. This can be in terms of health, bio-diversity and generally just living at one with nature. I think this might make for interesting reading for some of the visitors to my page.

So far from my research, the over-riding theory is that although organic farming has a lower ghg emission per unit area, the question mark remains over whether this holds true under a per unit output basis….at the early stages of my thesis this seems to be the defining question!!

 

Here is a really clear, basic guide to the fundamentals of Organic beef farming in Ireland written by one of my hosts in Teagasc, Dan Clavin. Note the emphasis and importance of clover. This was written back when the scheme was open to new applicants and people were being strongly encouraged to convert. I wonder would this paper be so encouraging if it were written now? Maybe so, but maybe not as how unlimited is the supply for Irish organic beef? Especially after brexit! Worth a read for anyone curious!

2nd Ed. Guidelines to Succesful Organic Beef Production. final (1)