Organic by May 15th or not til next year!

Farmers considering converting over to organic this year have a May 15^th Deadline to have their applications with the Department. The EU commission have imposed this deadline on Ireland to streamline EU-wide agri-environmental payments, including REPS and the Organic Farming Scheme.

According to Minister Sargent, �once we have the applications by 15 May we can process them. If this happens, then �farmers will be in a position to receive payment under the new Scheme during 2008.�

According to the Department, the new Commission regulations also lay down rules for the way in which farmers will be paid under the Organic Farming Scheme:

• Payment will be on a calendar year basis; in other words a farmer will be paid for the number of months in the year in which he or she is in the Scheme.

• Payment will be in two stages. The first payment, which will be at the rate of 75%, will be released when the administrative checks (both for the Scheme itself and for the Single Payment Scheme) are completed. In practice this is likely to be early autumn.

• The remaining 25% will be released when the last of the on-farm inspections for the year has taken place. This is likely to be towards the end of the year, probably December.

All undertakings will have an anniversary date of 1 January. Minister Sargent emphasised that the new deadline and payment rules applied to all farmers joining the Scheme, whether or not they intended to join REPS 4 as well.

The organic certification bodies have responded to the announcement of this deadline with an understandable mixture of annoyance and pragmatism.

According to the larger of the two certification bodies, IOFGA: �the announcement that the deadline for entrants to REPS 4 is May 15^th will seriously limit the growth of the organic farming sector this year�.

They suggest that the short timeframe involved �is not realistic as many potential members had hoped to join the scheme throughout the year or had planned to do so once their current REPS Plan had finished later in the year. The late nature of this announcement and the fact that it coincides with the busy spring period means that many farmers will defer going organic until next year.�

They also suggest that this will have an adverse effect on both the government�s 5% organic target for 2012, and on the consumer�s growing desire for good quality Irish organic product.

Helen Scully, certification manager with the Organic Trust was perhaps more pragmatic in her response: �The Organic Trust will be able to facilitate those producers who wish to avail of the May 15th deadline - simply forward completed documentation to the office and it will be processed in a very timely manner�.

For farmers who won�t be ready for the 15^th May, Helen pointed out that �organics is for the long-haul and a decision based on some and not all of the salient facts could present difficulties down the road. When the information and research phases have been completed� (those who want to convert to organic) can then organise to have their conversion plans drawn up over the coming months and submitted to the Organic Trust in December 2008, ready for a January 1st 2009 start date.�

If you can�t make the 15^th May deadline, according to Helen, �don't put the plans to convert your farm to organic production on the back burner - stay with the process and use the June to November period to copper-fasten plans for conversion; to become familiar with the details of the specific conversion plan and to study the organic standards. Plan to have everything ready to submit to the Organic Trust in November/December 2008 so that a January 1st 2009 conversion start date can be availed of.�

While this deadline will put them under strain, it is my understanding that both certification bodies will endeavour to deal efficiently will promptly with all applications.

Organic Trust 01 8530271 www.organic-trust.org

IOFGA: 043 42495 www.iofga.org

Links on the left for both

organic milk in Ireland: news, issues and a new company

A new company has been established by a group of 16 organic dairy farmers. I spoke to Tipperary organic farmer Pat Mulrooney, of the newly formed Irish Organic Milk Producers (IOMP) Company about the company and also about issues facing the sector in general.

Quota, costs and prices, the need for joined up thinking about organics at Departmental level, and the remit and opportunities of the new company all emerged as key issues.

First off, Pat does see some growth potential: �We see development, and more farmers coming into it, if not in the short term them further down the line. Our production will double in the next 2 yrs, and it will probably double in Northern Ireland as well. Some of our 16 members haven�t come on stream into organic as of yet.�

However, according to Pat, this doubling will come about because of extra farmers, not because of quota increases:

�Its 2001 or 2002 since anyone has been able to get quota of any size. There is no-one retiring from our group, and we�re not able to get anything from the national pool�.

�There is a small amount of new quota for various new products, but none for our specific products. There is such a small pool of milk available to us, and none from any other source�

While the vast majority of organic milk will still be purchased by Glenisk, Pat suggests that freeing up some quota would allow for some product and brand development.

As with so many other farmers, feed costs are a major concern:

�We�d like to see more done with summer milk. Winter milk is a hefty commitment. The costs are gone crazy, with meal at �600 a tonne. It�s crippling and marginalising. Now, we�re all adapting to this as best we can, to develop systems where we�re less dependent on meal, such as growing our own crops, and growing more red clover. But we�ve no good alternative system in place - we�re making progress, but even growing our own feed puts more pressure on our available land�.

In this variable costs context, price inevitably becomes an issue. Because of the differences in production costs, every six months or so, there are discussions as to the price of summer and winter milk: �We got a reasonable price last winter, and we�re hopeful that we�ll come to a reasonable conclusion for this summer�.

Specifically, Pat states: �Really, you�d want 60c per litre for the winter and, at the very minimum, 47 to 48 cent for the summer�

Winter prices will be discussed again on the 1^st August, while summer prices are being finalised at the moment.

What is perhaps most frustrating is that the Department seems to be speaking with a forked tongue - promoting organics with one side, and holding it back with the other:

�Overall it�s a bit disjointed. While there are some good government schemes promoting organic farming, we�re very much left behind. We can�t improve like our neighbours, though we�re living in the same economy. Promotion and grant aid money are all fine, and we�re supportive of that. But there has to be something in the quota system to allow us to expand like our neighbours. Otherwise it won�t be viable.�

The current situation for organic dairy farmers with regard to costs, price and quota has provided an impetus for the formation of the IOMP company:

�At least we�ll have a more coherent voice. We�ll be giving different jobs to different people in the company. We�ll educate ourselves this first year.�

The company will have a business development dimension: Marketing and developing a better understanding of actual on-farm milk production costs are two areas Pat cites that the company will be focusing on.

Overall them, there are both opportunities and constraints on the organic dairy sector. The Irish Organic Milk Producers company will at least help the sector represent itself.

ecologic: a healthy food store, not a health food store

�We�re a healthy food shop, not a health food shop�. So says John Dunne, founder of Eco Logic in Dundrum. On the face of it, Eco logic looks a lot like one type of health food store: the more food-focused health food store. This type is certainly in the minority, as they tend to foreground food and background the more convenient and profitable pills, potions and body building powers.

There are distinct differences between Eco Logic and these more earthy health food stores, however. For one thing there are no pills, potions or powers here at all � none. For another, this shop is certified organic.

�We went for organic certification so our customers would be in no doubt about the products we stock. I know myself, I found it annoying to have to be constantly reading those tiny labels�.

He had to go to a lot of effort, with plenty of visits from IOFGA and the Department of Agriculture. Perhaps these two groups were wary, after the well publicised and long running case involving Marc O� Mahony and the shop that called itself the Organic Shop in the English Market in Cork city. O� Mahony was prosecuted for labelling a non-organic turkey as organic under the European Communities (Organic Farming) Regulations 2004. O'Mahony pleaded guilty in Cork District Court, where Judge David Riordan fined O'Mahony �2,500 and awarded costs of �2,000 to the Department.

Back to Eco Logic. Citing climate change as a major motivator, John moved from a career in media and IT into selling home composters at farmers markets. Some of the customers he had at the markets followed him to the Dundrum shop he established with Linda McDonnell two years ago.

The shop itself is an A-Z of organic, with fruit and veg, meat, dairy products, seeds, pulses, non-alcoholic drinks, dried goods, sauces, along with some chilled, frozen and convenience products such as cereals, ice-creams, sweets and so on. There are also some non-food items, all of which maintain an environmental theme, such as Lilly�s cleaning products, Klee paper�s stationary and various personal care products.

But food dominates. Many of the newer, smaller Irish organic companies have their products stocked here, including Rossinver porridge, sauces and relish; Tipperary ice-cream; Wilde�s chocolates, and Blazing Salad�s breads.

�It breaks my heart to have to sell imported organic cheddar cheese and butter� John tells me. And herein lies a conundrum: whether to stock Irish artisan or imported organic. In John�s case, however, he can�t choose � he has to go with the certified organic.

I spent an hour or so in the shop, talking to John while taking breaks to let him deal with his customers. He seemed to know all of them by name, which is never a bad sign. They also spanned an age range that seemed to go from 20 to over 70.

I asked John about his customers: �they break down into three categories: there�s the healthy environmental ones, the parents with young kids and a group I wasn�t necessarily expecting, people with health problems�.

John�s customer base isn�t necessarily massive, but they are very loyal: he suggests that they come from a fairly wide geographical area, and tend to do a large amount of their shopping with him.

My own initial experience of the shop backs this point up: I was staying with a friend in Rathgar, who recommended Eco Logic to me. She does a weekly shop there. And I know from cycling from her house to the shop in the rain that it isn�t exactly around the corner.

Despite the south Dublin location, John hasn�t been overrun with extremely wealthy shoppers: �generally speaking, they do seem to be reasonably well off, but I�d say that they are more intelligent than rich�.

There is much research to back this latter point up, along with varying interpretations as to what it might mean. For John, in practical terms it means that he gets plenty of banter, feedback and recommendations from his steadfast shoppers.

For more: go here or 01 2962632

a biodynamic farmer in wicklow: Ernest, aubracs and a whole load of challenges

(noite: I'll have a comprehensive article on biodynamics in Food and Wine magazine soon)

All farmers work hard, but, pound for pound, the scattered few biodynamic farmers here in Ireland work harder. What�s more, they do so for no mark up, at least in the Irish situation.

Ernest Mackee is one such rare breed. In fact he�s a rare breed with a rare breed: Aubrac cattle.

Biodynamics as a type of organic farming deserves an article, perhaps a sequence of articles, to be explained. I won�t do this today. However, I will tell you that it involves an awful lot of dawn starts, occasional hours of spinning work, making complex sprays and preparations to harmonise your farming practices with the broader cosmos and the earth itself, the heroic building of uber-healthy compost, and all, as I said, for no real mark up. An organic mark up, yes, but no extra mark up for being biodynamic:

�Demeter has no market value separate to organic� according to Michael Miklis, administrator of the Biodynamic Association of Ireland.; �we haven�t broken the mould of organic�.

Biodynamic farmers� situation is also made me difficult by the fact that there are so few of them, and their certification body has ceased being a certification body recently. Demeter found the �8000 per year fee to be a certification body too high, in a context where they only had a 15 or so certified biodynamic producers. The other organic farmers who availed of their organic certification, while being more numerous, didn�t make enough of a significant difference for Demeter to remain in certification.

Ernest Mackee, up Donard in the hills of Wicklow, is one of the handful of biodynamic practitioners in farming in Irleand. Ernest has Texel-Belclare crosses and a pedigree heard of Aubrac cattle on his 137 ha.

�The reason I�m biodynamic is to improve the soil structure of the land and the health of the animals. It�s a holistic system. These improvements are gradual, but very noticeable over the 11 yrs I�ve been biodynamic. It�s a steady, slow process. The roots go down into the ground quite deeply, and they bring up the trace elements�.

Biodynamic farming is in many ways an act of faith. There is research to back up what Ernest says � the DOC trials in Switzerland. The problem is that the results are understood but the process by which the soil quality improves isn�t � at least not by the scientific community.

I asked Ernest how he knew it was better than conventional or standard organic: �I suppose I�ve been at it so long. I�m farming 46 yrs � I started when I was 16 yrs of age. Back then, there was a lot of fertilizer being spread. There were super phosphorous subsidies to nationally increase fertility - it really took off in 60s, 70s and 80s.�

With this many years in farming, and with the experience of going organic before going biodynamic, Ernest can lay a reasonable claim to knowing the pace at which a sward grows and regrows.

Ernest gets a good return from his Aubracs. �They are hardy and suited to a forage diet�. This is important in a context whereby, in his own words, �the price of meal has gone bananas�. This also means that Ernest�s customers get 100% grass-fed beef, which is increasingly showing up as a positive in research and is generally becoming more sought after.

�They also calve easily. They are not huge cattle, and they�re easy to maintain�.

All very well, but where�s the beef?

�They don�t necessarily have less meat� Ernest tells me. �Some of the big cattle have huge bones. The Aubrac kill out rate can be as high as 80%. Some get E grades. Their bone structure is small, so there is a lot of saleable meat on them. They are more like Aberdeen Angus size than Dexter size. They�re not monsters like Emmental or Charlois�.

His returns speak for themselves: Ernest� animals consistently achieve just under the top 25% returns rating, when compared to the National Farm Survey Figures.

And yet, apart from a small number of private customers, much of his meat ends up in Superquinn as organic only. Better soil, better animals � shouldn�t he get better pay?

Ernest can be contacted on: 045 404973; the Biodynamic Association of Ireland on 056 7754214. A Teagasc farm profile of Ernest� s holding can be found by clicking on �farm profile� at www.biodynamic.ie