Organic farmers in West are hit

SMALLER farmers in the West of Ireland have been ‘hammered’ in the new Organic Farmers Scheme announced last week by Minister of State, Tom Hayes.

According to the Organic Farmers Representative Body (OFRB), the failure to front-load payments for smaller farmers is very bad news for the sector in the West of Ireland.

While payments in the new scheme have increased across the board, it has been a ‘one size fits all’ scenario, and OFRB say that it is ‘seriously skewed’ in favour of the bigger farmers.

A change in the payments regime now also means that organic farmers cannot also claim for GLAS on the same area – West of Ireland farmers, on average, won’t have enough ground to claim on under both schemes.

Padraig Finnegan from Williamstown – Chairman of the Organic Farmers’ Representative Body – said that smaller farmers in the West would be ‘hammered’ in the new scheme.

He said that they had set up a meeting with Minister of State at the Dept. of Agriculture, Tom Hayes, to try and resolve issues relating to double funding and frontloading.

“Front-loading of payments for farmers for the first 15 to 20 hectares is absolutely critical from the West of Ireland’s viewpoint.

“The way the scheme is geared at present, it is the ‘big man’ who will be the winner and invariably the vast majority of the smaller organic farmers are in the West of Ireland,” said Padraig Finnegan.

He said that organic farmers were also being hit by exorbitant annual certification costs that had to be reduced as a matter of priority.

“Take for example a small to medium organic farmer with 30 hectares [c. 75 acres] – he will end up with annual certification costs of €600 over the duration of the five years of the scheme, or a total of €3,000. This is just simply way too much,” said Padraig Finnegan.

In the scheme announced last week by Minister of State Tom Hayes, the conversion rate for livestock farmers increases from €212 per hectare to €220 per ha.

The new maintenance rate for livestock increases from €106ha to €170ha. Rates also have increased in the tillage and horticultural sectors. The closing date for the scheme is May 29 next.

At the launch, Minister Hayes said that the Organic Farming Scheme would be a key support measure enabling farmers to ‘avail of the growing market opportunities that clearly exist for organic food’.

“My job is to encourage farmers to avail of these opportunities and by doing so, maximise their potential income. The new scheme offers significantly increased rates of aid to organic farmers, both in conversion and when fully established,” said Minister Hayes.