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

Soil Association report for the organic market in the UK:

Pic: Jason Horner, organic veg seller at Ennis Farmers' Market

The UK's largest organic certification body, the Soil Association (SA), has just published a report on the market for organics. The news is mixed for the overall organic sector, and in some ways, bad for the UK organic farmer.

The situation in Ireland is different to the UK, with the market here remaining stronger. However the UK remains an export location for Irish organic produce. Along with the market itself suffering, the euro sterling differential is compounding the difficulties for Irish organic exports to the UK.

The UK organic market is worth over �2.1 billion annually. Diary is the biggest organic category (29.5%) followed closely by fresh fruit and vegetables (26.2%).

Growth in 2008 in the SA report was at 1.8%. This represented growth in three quarters, and decline in the final 08 quarter. Compared to 11% growth in Ireland in January 2009, the difference in the figures is significant.

The fairly neutral finding of a 1.8% increase disguises the fact that different categories showed sharper variations.

Sales of organic milk, cheese, meat and poultry grew by 10.6%, 11.5%, 13.3% and 17.7% in 2008. Convenience foods and confectionery fell, by 5.9% and 21% respectively. In part this reflects both cutting back and 'back to basics': sales of organic cooking ingredients were up a considerable 13.5%.

The two biggest growth areas for organic in the UK offer little opportunities for Irish farmers.

Certified organic textiles hit the �100 million mark, with organic cotton sales increasing by a full 40%. The organic health and beauty category rose by 69%. This was, however, partly due to consolidation of the certification and labelling regulations as much as an increase in sales: i.e. consumers were buying what they considered to be organic products previously anyway.

There are more signals of changes in what people eat. As reported by Ray Ryan last week for food in general in Ireland, cheaper cuts of meat are also in for organic in the UK. Worryingly, both fruit and vegetables sales were down. Some consumers are also switching to canned or frozen organic vegetables in place of fresh.

The location of purchase has also changed. This reflects both price and other considerations. ASDA, who spoke about their organic sales growth at a conference in Waterford last year, report growth of 25%. ASDA thus increased its share of the market from 8% to around 10%. Another low price multiple retailer, Morrisons, also reported growth in organic sales.

This reflects both increased organic purchasing by a broader socio-economic range of people and people from higher socio-economic groups changing where they shop.
Supermarkets that traditionally attract wealthier consumers have suffered: Tesco, Waitrose, Marks and Spencers and Sainsburys all reported losses in their organic sales.

In the analysis of the report, the SA point out that organic fruit and vegetables, Tescos largest organic area, have begun to pick up again in their stores.

The Co-op achieved double-digit percentage growth, increasing sales by 15%. This is a slightly unusual retail outlet in the UK. It is a consumer co-op with over 2200 stores, and recently took over the Somerfield supermarket chain.

While non multiple outlets (health food stores, box schemes etc) only reported 1.4% growth, farmers' markets were the exception. Growth in this route in the UK was high, at 18.6% to �23.7 million.

All told, for non multiple retailers, Around �11 million is now spent on organic products through independent retailers every week, or �568 million. This compares to �1.54 million through the multiples.

The report also calls for an improvement in the way the organic movement coveys its messages: a perhaps unexpected example of an underreported fact is the following: organic fruit and veg from box schemes are consistently cheaper than those in supermarkets.

In many ways, the strongest signal from this report from an Irish organic farming perspective point to the need for new markets in mainland Europe. In many EU countries the market remains strong or indeed continues to grow.

To access the report, click here