How many there is ?
Central Statistics Office (CSO) (2020) reported that in 2020 Ireland had 1,686 organic farm holdings which overall represented 1.3% of total farm holdings. Francis (2005) defines organic farming “as production of crop, animal, and other products without the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, transgenic species or antibiotics and growth-enhancing steroids, or other chemicals”. Table 1 below shows us the breakdown of organic farms in Ireland in 2020 with 1,540 being fully converted organic farms and 146 farms under conversion to organic farms. Table 1 also shows us land use for organic farms in 2020, with a total of 73,798.8 hectares (ha) of agricultural area utilised being registered under organic farms which represents a mere 1.6% of total agricultural area utilised in Ireland.
Figure 1 shows the percentage of organic farms by farm type in Ireland in 2020. From this figure we can see that the largest proportion of registered organic farms were specialist beef production. This was followed by specialised sheep, mixed grazing livestock and mixed crops and livestock.
Benefits of Organic Farming and Organic Produce
One of the leading causes of the current climate crises is increasing GHG emissions (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2022). Organic farming has the potential to reduce these emissions (Nejadkoorki, 2012). Organic farming will mean farms will no longer be dependent on high emissions inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides and instead will rely on establishing closed nutrient cycles and minimizing nitrogen losses which will overall reduce GHG emissions such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Organic agriculture also sees improved manure management with the implementation of methods such as manure composting which again reduces nitrous oxide and methane emissions. Organic farming also sees an improved efficiency per every ha of land. This type of farming also sequesters and stores more organic carbon through the introduction of legumes or reduced tillage which also brings added benefits of improved soil quality and fertility. Organic farming can also act as form of resilience by reducing erosion, supporting plant health enhancing biodiversity all which contributes towards stable yields during extreme weather conditions and acts as form of resilience (IFOAM, 2022).
Other benefits to organic farming include its ability to enhance biological diversity within a system, recycle the wastes of plants and animals to return nutrients to the land, improve and maintain soil fertility and reduce energy losses and crop failures (Sartaj et al., 2013). Organic farming will also be vital in providing sustainability in the long term by producing food with an environmental balance (Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 2022).
Teagasc (2022) note that organic farming can be profitable with them maintaining high output levels with lower production costs and premium market prices. Similarly enough Nierenberg (2005) and Marais and Eiselen (2016) mentions that the method of farming is profitable even though they have lower yields. Mendoza (2004)highlights that organic production is cheaper due to lower cash expenses, a higher net revenue and a lower breakeven point. Inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides are not needed which keeps production costs lower (Lotter, 2003, Marais and Eiselen, 2016). This is especially true now, with the rising costs of inputs such as fertilizers (Blaney, 2022).
With organic food production bringing such environmental benefits this blog post further examines what schemes or incentives are in place to encourage the conversion to organic farming in Ireland and if more needs to be done.
- Organic Farming Scheme
This is a scheme set up by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine which aims to financially support farmers in the production of organic foods. Payments of the scheme have different rates based on the area farmed and the type of farming which is conducted.
In order to qualify the farer must;
- Produce livestock or crop products in accordance to European Union organic standards.
- Complete an approved training course.
- Farm and manage the land in which you have listed.
- Register and be approved as an organic operator by a private inspection body.
- Have a minimum farm area of 3ha. For horticulture this minimum farm area required is 1ha.
(Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, 2020a)
- Organic Capital Investment Scheme (OCIS)
This is another scheme set up by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine which seeks to provide financial support to farmers who regularly produce a supply of high quality organic produce for the market. Again there are certain terms and conditions which need to be met in order to qualify for the scheme (Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, 2020b).
- Organic Processing Investment Grant Scheme
This scheme aims to provide financial assistance to improve the organic sector by providing producers with the opportunity to enhance their income, to help guide future production with market trends, to encourage the development of new agricultural outlets and products, to improve production, handling and preparation of organic produce, encourage the development and instalment of new technologies and to develop facilities for preparation, grading, packing, storage, distribution, or the sale of organic products (Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, 2021).
Even though there is options there for farmers from research done for this blog there still seems to be very little encouragement to switch to organic farming. More help both in terms of finance and knowledge sharing needs to be provided to farmers in order to educate them of the benefits of organic farming and the options which are available to them in order to aid their conversion from conventional farming.
In conclusion organic farming can provide huge environmental advantages in a time where the world is facing a global climate crisis while also providing financial benefits. However, in Ireland there is a very small uptake of organic farming and in order to encourage this governments, environmental and agricultural organisations need to promote the switch from conventional to organic farming through knowledge sharing and financial support.
Bibliography
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