Forming Co-ops and groups for organic farmers

More than other types of farming, organic farming can be isolating. This is because organic farmers are spread out, diffusely, around Ireland.

Whereas a conventional beef, sheep or dairy farmer may have neighbours with similar enterprises, organic farmers can be some distance from other organic farmers.

In more mature organic sectors abroad, this effect diminishes as organic farms cluster in regions over time (See for e.g. Dr. Matt Reed's work on spatial dynamics and organic farming in Devon)

Of course, organic and conventional farmers can and do interact with each other in a variety of ways � however there are undoubted benefits to organic farmers working together too.

While local organic producer groups would be difficult to sustain numerically, regional organic producer groups have perhaps more potential.

One such group is meeting in Ballyvourney, Cork, on the 27th of this month, at 3PM. Tom Murray of Earth Angel Organics has been central to the formation of the group, which has met twice already.

Earth Angel Organics run a small but very diverse holding near Watercress Hill in the Glanmire part of Cork. Market gardening and direct selling a range of organic vegetables is Tom and Carol Murray's core business, but they also produces an array of other foods � eggs, chicken, pork, lamb, as well as jams, pickles, sauces more.

(For a detailed feature on Earth Angel Organics, see the upcoming edition of Organic Matters Magazine)

I spoke to Tom about the formation of the group.

�Really, people were crying out for working together� he tells me. �We are getting organic farmers and growers from across Munster, from Cork, Kerry and Limerick�.

He continues �our first meeting in November had 20 people, the next in December in Mills Inn had more, and we're hoping for more again for our February meeting�.

There are significant benefits to forming a group: �There's shared purchasing power for a start. For example, a lorryload of feed from the UK can work out far cheaper than buying it as individuals in Ireland�.

The monopolistic situation in Ireland with regard to organic feed makes price competition especially difficult to generate.

�A 25 kg bag of organic feed can cost E15.50, and some have been paying to E17 for the same bag. Buying a tonne from the UK means that it works out at more like E12.50 for 25 kg�.

There are other positive feed effects too: �4 tonnes of oats were traded at the first meeting� he tells me �I knew we were onto something good once I saw that�.

There are other ways to save time and money too, when operating as a group: �You could spend an age looking up something on line, when someone else has already looked into it.�

Their upcoming meeting will feature John Brennan of the Leitrim Organic Farmers' Co-op and Sean McGloin of NOTS- the National Organic Training Skillsnet. The Leitrim Co-op are a good example of how and why farmers should try to work together where it suits them.

According to Sean McGloin, organic farmers in North West can achieve better prices that those in the South West.

This is in part because, along with IOFGA, the Leitrim Co-op run numerous organic cattle marts in Drumshanbo. They also work on some of the ancillary elements to the marts, such as transport to and from the location.

In general, with the work of the co-op, through beef contracts, advice on finishing animals, farmer to farmer linkages, farm visits, breed advice and strong sales promotion, organic farmers in the north west are more likely to achieve a price premium at the various stages.

This also means that the organics retains its cattle and sheep � a fact which maintains overall organic sector buoyancy.

The Ballyvourney Organic Producer's Group: Contact Tom Murray on 087 6237859

Leitrim coop are here

REALLY - WHERE'S THE (ORGANIC) BEEF JOHN?

Part two of my beef interview session with John Brennan. This one discusses the beef grade, and also features a different perspective to John's, that of Teagasc Organic Farming Advisor James McDonnell.

How should quality be defined in organic beef? There are two schools of thought.

(Pic: some of Joe Condon's galloway cattle)

One school suggests that organic cattle should be graded along the same lines as conventional, using the EU R O P system.

For non-farmer readers: This grid or grade system scores cattle carcass shape and muscle development from the top (E) to the bottom (P). Numbers 1 to 5 denote degree of fat on the carcass, with 1 having the least and 5 the most. Thus, in conventional farming, top price achieving animals are up at the U or (rarely) E levels, with a fat score of 1 or 2.

In organic farming in Ireland, a flat price is used instead of this grade system. However, it, or a modified version, is used in other EU countries for organic beef animals.

It could be argued that organic farming does not reward the highest achievers, producing, in conventional terms, the best animals. According to James McDonnell, organic advisor with Teagasc:

�The flat price doesn't do anything for the (organic) sector: in conventional, its all about quality. Good quality cattle and good carcass with better overall cuts are not being rewarded.�

�A Belgian Blue has more fillets, round roast and so on; but it could be argued that, in organic, poor animals are overpaid for, and visa versa. The factories would also prefer quality as they make more.�

He continues: �When factories were paying flat, there were beef blockages in the conventional sector�, pointing out that the flat price may also be mitigating against finishers in organic.

Indeed, top organic producers can sell into the conventional sector for the higher grade prices.

However, both the Good Herdsman and the Leitrim Co-op prefer to pay a flat rate.

For John Brennan of the Leitrim Co-op � we want to improve quality and confirmation, but this factory system isn't the answer�.

He points to a breed renowned for its eating quality: �Take the Aberdeen Angus � that is often graded as an O. It has a natural genetic merit in its confirmation, and for many consumers, the breed produces a superior meat. The grading system does not take organoleptic factors into account - so its about efficiency, not quality of meat. I won't accept anything but a flat rate.�

He continues �You need minimum of a 2 for fat cover � in Scotland R4 is ideal for organic. They have a lot of work done there on the Angus, where they are fed mostly on grass and silage, and finishing at 300 to 320 kg deadweight. Some oats and peas produced on the farm are also used as feed � really its a great system. Plus, they have managed to get PGI status for Scotch beef�.

Levels of grass feeding is another issue again: native breeds are more suited to a grass-based diet. Research suggests that increasing the grass content of the animal's diet increases the levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is thought to help protect against cancer, diabetes and heart disease, without using external inputs (e.g. imported oils) to achieve this.

�If we had the conventional grading system in organic, it would penalise the native breeds�, breeds that, in a nutshell are more suited to the terrain and climate in Ireland, can finish off grass and have tasty marbling.

There is another element to this: �increasingly, supermarket buyers, especially abroad, don't want continental animals from Ireland�. In other words, they want breeds traditionally associated with Ireland and Britain.

�We need to look at low input animals, animals that are carbon footprint friendly. There should be a good conversion of feed into meat, from silage and grass, with just a a small amount of supplements�.

Increasingly, science, through the use of stable isotope tests, can test the meat itself to differentiate beef based on diet.

Research in Ireland by Professor Frank Monaghan and others has now clearly demarked grass fed from other meat, and organic from conventional.

So, in the final analysis, is it about the consumer or the factory?

WHERE'S THE (ORGANIC) BEEF? ASK JOHN.

Beef remains the strongest sector within organics. While there are also significant numbers of sheep farmers, sheep meat has struggled to gain a price premium.

Beef on the other hand, has both numbers and, by and large, something of a price premium. While there are preferable times of the year to sell to gain the premium, the largest organic meat processor in Ireland or Britain, Good Herdsman, recently let it be known that there is a shortage of about 11,000 beef animals in the system.

(Pic: Joe Condon's Galloways with room to roam)

From humble local beginnings in 1998, the Leitrim Organic Farmers Co-op now has a membership of over 100 beef and sheep farmers, from many counties across Ireland. The main areas it focuses on for its members are in finding markets, orgnaising for training and education, advice and lobbying.

A number of organic cattle marts have just finished up. I spoke to John Brennan of the Leitrim Co-op about how the trade has been.

�Confidence has returned to the sales� he tells me. �We had two in Drumcollagher, there were 137 sales at the first and 290 at the second.�

�Prices have improved - typically 2E per kg for heifers, E2.30 per kilo for good weanlings, while forward stores are also meeting good trade.�

�The numbers of organic cattle moved weekly is nearly at record levels - here and in the UK � and while the price is not at the record 2007 levels, it is nonetheless strong and giving confidence� .

Regarding export markets, there are some positive signs. �Tescos in the UK are buying a lot more organic meat again now. They seemed to panic a bit at the start of the downturn, and whipped organic off the shelves. While some customers did trade down to discounters, some of these in turn returned to their preferred supermarkets. So Waitrose, for example, have regained market share.�

Indeed, according to a report earlier in the year from the UK's Soil Association, among the three supermarkets with the biggest shares of the organic market � Sainsbury�s, Tesco and Waitrose � it was Waitrose that proved the most resilient in the recession. Its organic sales fell by only 3.5% in 2009 and it is predicting growth of 3-5% in 2010.

�There have also been increases in the market in Holland, especially for forequarter meat. This leaves other options with rear quarter meat�.

There are of course concerns: �the cost of feed is still an issue. The Sterling differential is helping, but some farmers are now growing their own feed. Some grow for Flahavans, and keep a portion for animal feed. Red clover is also coming strong earlier, and there was an earlier cutting date this year too�

Another issue is the age of slaughter. While there is a preference in the factories for animals slaughtered under 30 months, this comes with various costs and concerns for organic farmers.

According to John Brennan, as finishing under 30 months is difficult with vontinentals, �why not go to 33 or 35 months? Some cattle only reach their full desirable carcass weight at this age, especially the bigger animals like Charlois. But some processors, Slaney excluded, don't want animals that size.�

�A lot of it comes down to breed. With an Aberdeen Angus, they might be close to 280 kg at 20 to 24 months. But to push to and past 300 kg, or to try to get close to 350kg, is very difficult. You'd need another 10 to 12 months.�

�With the bigger continental animals, the Limosins or Belgian Blues, its very difficult without a lot of grain feeding, and feed is very expensive in organic.�

The discussion turned to paying by the grade. In organic, farmers are not paid by the grade for beef in Ireland, though they are in other countries, including the UK. He was especially animated about this issue. As you will see in my next posting on this topic.

Harvest Feast 2009: Tommy Early's organic farm biodiversity walk

One of my favourite things about autumn, along with the fact that we often get an Indian summer, is the food festivals.

There are a plethora in the south west. The season and the region begins with Mitchelstown (August 28th-30th), features a real gem with Skibbereen's a Taste of West Cork (September 14-20th ), and is bookended by the gorgeous Dingle Food and Wine festival (October 2-4th).

But if you want to get away and find a foodie haven, then try the Harvest Feast in Drumshanbo, Leitrim (September11th-13th).

According to John Brennan of the Leitrim Organic Farmers' Co-op and chair of the Festival Committee: �This year there is a real focus on the best of seasonal, local produce, on getting back to basics with gardening and cooking, and on innovative ecotourism activities.�

Now in its third year, there is a real cost saving focus at this year's Harvest Feast. This is obviously incredibly apt, considering the new omnipresent fashion for frugality.

Not only are many events free, there is also a free talk and demonstration on reducing your food bills by 30% without compromising on quality. Sian Breslin of the Donegal Manor Cookery School will reveal how to better plan your meals, how to develop recipe lists while keeping your focus on good healthy and nutritious food.

Eye catching events include the excellent 40 stall regional food market; a Neven Mcguire cookery demo; children's cookery classes and Tommy Early's organic farm walk.

Tommy Early has about 100 acres of IOFGA certified farmland. His farm is a treasure trove for nature lovers. Along with the farmland, there's lakeshore, untouched bog, wetlands and woodlands old enough to be marked on the first ordinance survey maps.

The farm stocks the rare breed Moiled cattle, which will form part of the walks. �Moiled are a dual purpose rare breed, with dappled coat, dating back to the Vikings� he tells me.

I asked Tommy Early about how and why he started doing biodiversity walks on his beautiful, lakeshore farm: �We have the perfect spot for it: we're on the shore of Lough Allen. A lot of the habitats haven't changed - none of it was ever intensively farmed�.

�Along with that, the land is marginal. Marginal land, especially the boggy land, is the first to get wet and the last to dry.�

He continues �And with the summer's we've been having, its getting more and more difficult to cut silage. So I think there's potential in nature tourism�

He seems to be thinking correctly. The farm now hosts school tours, various nature appreciation groups and the broad Harvest Feast walks, which covers a wide range of events.

From a farmer perspective, he tells me that �this sort of tourism is fairly low cost. There are a number of walks on the farm, due to its diversity. We could do heritage, birds, bats, historical: you could develop it from several angles�.

He now even has moth tourism. A bird expert told a moth expert, photographer Philip Strickland, and now people visit to experience the fantastic range of moths on the site.

The light hand with which Tommy has farmed allows incredibly rare and delicate flora and fauna to flourish.

�With moths, its all to do with variety of habitats. The healthier and longer established they are the better: Some moths can only live in habitats that are a couple of hundred years old.�

�We're preserving the bog, and have changed some drains which has created ponds. The bog is also untouched � it was never harvested. We have a rare species of butterfly called March Fritillary�.

�On the lakeshore of Lough Allen we've a rare orchid � the Irish Ladies Tresses. That only flowers after a flood and without too much rain following it. It might only flower every couple of years. We've been maintaining the shoreline to promote the orchid.�

Its sensitive work, requiring a light hand, but combines well with an organic approach and ethos.

For more see: here or ring 071 9640868

Organic Lamb: the issues according to John Brennan

Along with Beef, sheep makes up the biggest sector within Irish organic farming. This year, as in other years, most farmers opting to convert to organic before May 15th were either in sheep or beef.

While organic beef is relatively successful, organic lamb is far more challenging. In general, conventional lamb sales are down in Ireland, the UK and the rest of the EU, so both organic and conventional sheep farmers face challenges.

(pic: John Brennan - second from the end of the right, at BioFach with the heads of the five families...)

Some farmers who already have a low stocking rate seem happy to convert to organic and collect the improved supports, while still mostly selling into the conventional market.

John Brennan can claim expertise on three fronts. A farmer himself, he also heads the Leitrim Organic Farmers' Co-op, which has 150 members many of them with sheep. He is also completing an MA in Organic Agriculture, specialising in the organic lamb market for his research.

John suggests that �market conditions are difficult and producer sentiment poor�.

�The real issue is that organic lamb in Scotland is 4.51 Euros, whereas in Ireland it is 6 Euro per kilo. Add to this the fact that sterling is weaker and the production costs are lower over there.�

He goes on: �The Irish organic lamb market is about 11,000, whereas Scotland produces 100,000�. In both cases the primary market is the home market.

Inevitably, what holds for Scotland also holds for Northern Ireland with regard to sterling.

For his research, John Brennan surveyed 90 sheep farmers and interviewed a number of processors. He found that September is the biggest month for sales, with 33% of all sheep sold sold in this month. August clocks in at 11%, July 14%. So over half of all organic sheep sold are sold in this period.

�Seasonality is an issue for the rest of the year. This year we scraped through. If a processor said he wanted 40 extra lambs, it would have been difficult to establish.�

Regarding the market, Brennan points out that �there is a solid price for hoggets in the early part of the year, from January to May. Early lambs get a premium. However many of the September sales end up in the conventional market.�

Along with his survey research, Brennan understands the practical issues in securing sales. Marks and Spenser's (M&S) are the main outlet for Leitrim Co-op's organic lamb.

M&S have 27 stores in the south and 14 in Northern Ireland. �M&S want lambs from both north and south of border,� according to Brennan. This inevitably puts pressure on price.

A major issue for the organic lamb market in general is the retailer's cut. According to Brennan �I was talking to supermarket buyer who was taking a 50% mark up in lamb. I could not understand how the market could survive on this. When I asked him, he said that lamb was very profitable, but that he was selling very little because its too expensive. However, he seemed to prefer the good profit over increasing volume of sales�.

With consumers more price aware than ever, and more willing to bulk buy and fill the freezer, this sort of mark up is a barrier to increased sales.

Consumer education also needs to be improved, he suggests, as many consumers do not know how to cook lamb. Product differentiation for organic lamb too is a concern.

To try to secure foreign non-sterling markets, Brennan represented the Co-op as Slaney Meat's preferred supplier at the BioFach organic trade show in Germany this year.

One approach the Co-op are spearheading is direct sales. They have been instrumental in developing the mobile butcher units in the north west, and now have a simple but effective direct sales section on their website for consumers.

This section allows consumers to purchase half or whole spring lambs for the freezer. The meat is then brought to the selected farmers' market for collection. The market must be on at least five days after the order is made, to allow time for processing.

This provides the consumer with a genuine alternative to multiple retailers, provided they are willing and able to bulk buy.

Leitrim co-op: here