2009: THE ORGANIC YEAR THAT WAS

In spite of the trials and tribulations every aspect of Irish life has faced this year, organic farming and food has managed to stand tall.

Difficult, challenging, and testing times no doubt, and more yet to come. This is not to say of course that everyone has grown their business, that all have even survived. It is to say, however, that the organic movement is resilient.

The organic year began with a slightly unusual announcement: the arrival of a new certification body: IMO. This global organisation specialises in various ethical certifications, including organic.

Their arrival may in the coming years open up export markets, expertise and multi layered certification and validation of Irish organic products, which may well help build the Irish organic sector - who knows? Its up to farmers and food producers to be innovative in this regard.

February saw the largest delegation yet of Irish organic food businesses at the BioFach trade show in Germany. This was one of the many innovative actions the Department of Agriculture and the organic sector took: the necessity of a weak UK market bred the ingenuity of new European markets.

The summer saw two significant occurrences: the UK Food Standards Authority's (FSA) report on nutrition, and the figures on the growth of the organic market in Ireland. This report was, in my own reasonably informed opinion, flawed in numerous ways.

In brief, however, regarding the nutritional superiority of organic over conventional: a conclusion of 'not enough evidence to make a case either ways' would have been far more accurate than the actual report's conclusion of 'no evidence'.

New excellent award winning organic products emerged: simple, honest foods like Moonshine Milk, Drumeen Farm Happy Heart Oil and Sowan's bread.

In my own small way, myself and Joe Condon have been adding to this by beavering away on the Organics with Altitude initiative. This encourages hill farmers to consider suitable upland breeds, artisan butchering, direct selling and organic certification. It has been going well for us, and I've really enjoyed getting out and about meeting farmers from Donegal to Kerry.

Also during the summer, Foras Organach was established, a streamlined and industry-led way to help develop the sector, whilst public procurement of organic finally began.

Despite or perhaps even because of the recession, the organic market actually grew in the period up to last records, July. It grew at a faster rate than its previous rate of growth,which was fast anyway. Few other areas are also growing in the Irish economy: as a stark contrast, pharmaceuticals and the multinational sector in general are.

A crucial difference between organic and these other growth areas is that organic is about one of Ireland's key and immovable natural resources � the land. Organic doesn't even have the option of relocating to Bangalore or New Deili: multi and transnational capital always has that option.

In this light, it is at least heartening that the 2009 reviewed programme for government renewed and indeed strengthened its commitment to organic.

Post budget, it was announced that all the organic cash was coming back: grant aid and both the in-conversion and area-based payments are being reintroduced at the previous levels.

And, happy new year folks: the Organic Farming Scheme returns tomorrow. Subject to new organic farmers completing a training course and business plan, they can apply from tomorrow on.

It cannot have been easy for the Minister with responsibility for organic farming, Trevor Sargent, to achieve this in the worst economic meltdown the country has even seen.

I genuinely do not think that the organic movement knows how blessed it is to have a supportive, hard working and, yes even visionary Minister at the helm: how would organic have fared in budgetary cutbacks if a journeyman with no real commitment to the sector was in there instead?

The biggest single remaining block to growth now is the issue regarding REPS 2 and REPS 3 farmers not actually being allowed convert to organic: some 30,000 don't even have the option, unless they pull out of REPS and return their payments.

Here's hoping that this crucial barrier is lifted in the New Year.

foras organach: bodies don't (always) lie

b4 u even start on this and the government, have a look at what will now happen because the greens are in government. And then think of what would have happened were they not in government.

Its an a-z of what should be done. Like 500 _new_ teachers....

Sure if u don't trust the times, there's always the horses' mouth itself

article begins:

Its amazing how much dislike there is out there for the government, and how this manifests itself.

This occasionally naked anger appears in a myriad of different ways � even in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's (DAFF's) promotion of organic farming.

On line and in print, the establishment of Foras Organach has actually managed to annoy a number of people, both from and outside the farming community.

Foras Organach is the new body, which takes over from the National Steering Group for the Organic Sector, with a remit to drive the development of organics.

That Foras Organach is taking over from a previous body seems has passed most of the critics by.

This shows a lack of due diligence on their parts - under-researching their opinion and criticising something without having the facts established.

However it also reveals just how little faith people have in the government: in the case of Foras Organach, they immediately presumed it was another gravy train.

One of these sources of criticism was the on line forum politics.ie . This is an extremely busy and active website, which carries news and discussions on politics.

On politics.ie the announcement of Foras Organach was greeted with shouting rage. Many presumed it would be costly, that the members of the body would be on a wage, that offices would be filled with the members and their staff.

In fact, Foras Organach is 1/3 the size of the previous group and far more targeted, as conventional sector experts and organic representatives work together in a very focused way.

The members are all either volunteering private businesspeople, or state employees doing their dairy work.

The meetings are in Department of Finance buildings in Tullamore. This latter fact also reduces the costs associated with it, as Tullamore is in the midlands so people traveling from the four corners, as it were, will have a shorter distance to travel. And as farming is rural, the logic of this location is clear.

Members do receive civil service rates for traveling to Tullamore the once a month meetings, but why shouldn't they? Especially if they are private businesspeople taking a day out of actually earning money, and volunteering to help develop the organic sector?

Critics also saw Foras Organach as a waste of money in a country with none. Apart from the fact that it will actually cost very little money, investing in organic farming is investing in a growth area that, compared to conventional farming, has a younger demographic, has a better gender balance, has more profitability and is more sustainable. What's not to support in this, considering the Department's conventional farming budget tops E2.6 billion?

While you can expect a level of ignorance about farming on websites, you might expect a bit more from a farming publication.

The Irish Farmers' Monthly actually carries an editorial on Foras Organach in its current October edition. The presumptions and basic errors made in Margaret Donnelly's editorial are noteworthy.

Claiming that Foras Organach is an �entirely new body� is a very basic error. As is the claim that recent research has found that organic has �zero health benefits�: no food has zero health benefits.

While, expecting that people will have less money to spend, and thus might purchase less organic food, is understandable, this jars with the fact that organic sales in Ireland are increasing as the recession deepens.

In July of this year, organic sales reached E124 million. This is a 19% increase on the July 2008 figure. (This has been misreported almost everywhere, as people have conflated the volume increase of 13% with the value increase of 19%)

It also ignores the fact that Ireland has an export orientated agricultural sector, and that there are significant shortages of organic produce in many parts of Europe � where, as it happens, the recession is not as severe anyway.

Foras Organach will continue to grow the organic sector, in a very cost effective manner, whatever about people's dislike of the government.

Foras Organach Established

Minister of State Trevor Sargent has announced the ending of the National Steering committee for the organic sector.

In its place, a new body, For�s Org�nach, has been established.

"I have established For�s Org�nach to build on the work of the National Steering Group and its predecessor, the Organic Development Committee, but with a different emphasis," the Minister stated.

"Whereas the emphasis in the past was to bring various stakeholder groups together to agree a programme of action, it is my intention that the new body will be made up of individuals with expertise in particular areas who can bring their talents and specialist knowledge to our efforts to develop the organic sector further�.

This new body will be headed up by Noel Groome, Managing Director of Groome's, a company specialising in the distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Balbriggan-based company, which Noel Groome founded in 1984, supples to the symbol sector: Spar, Londis and the Gala stores, as well as some independents.

Organic fresh fruits and vegetables are a small but growing part of Groomes business: the company is certified with IOFGA as an organic processor.

According to Minister of State Sargent, � I will be announcing the membership of For�s Org�nach in due course but I believe that Noel Groome will be an outstanding Chair".

Grant Aid Suspended for Organic Sector

(Note: the organic farming scheme itself is still open to applicants: only the grant aid for equipment, buildings etc is suspended)

The recent announcement of the suspension of grant aid for the organic sector has been greeted with dismay across the organic sector.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF) put a brave face on it:

�Minister Sargent noted that the number of applications for the Schemes had increased substantially in the last two years, and that applications now on hand would fully use up the allocation in his Department's vote for 2009.�

"The increased level of demand for these schemes is evidence of an increased level of confidence in the sector", Minister Sargent said. "It also clearly demonstrates the belief that organics is now a viable commercial operation with a strong potential for growth".

The two main certification bodies have had no such 'glass half full' attitude to this suspension. Both feel that the suspension will hinder the development of organic farming in Ireland, and will work against the government plans of a 5% land base in organic by 2012.

According to Grace Maher, development officer with IOFGA farmers who were in conversion will be most affected �as many of them had converted with plans to develop their businesses with grant assistance�.

She also points out that horticulture will be especially hard hit: �horticultural producers have been dependent on it for horticultural machinery and tunnels�. Maher, a horticulture producer herself in Carlow, also pointed out that �if we get another wet summer like the past 2 it will ensure that horticultural production without polytunnels is not viable in Ireland�.

She also suggests that the suspension �will impact negatively on the reduction of

organic imports� and �processors who in the current climate were dependent on the money to secure loans for developing their enterprises�.

� In the current economic situation organic farmers were investing in their businesses with the help of the grant system which is not happening in other ag sectors. This investment was necessary to drive the sector forward.�

According to the Organic Trust, �The suspension of the capital grants scheme is another blow to the development of the organic sector.

�The affect of the suspension of the scheme will affect all organic producers. This includes livestock farmers who would have been applying for grant-aid to adjust animal housing to comply with the organic regulations plus applications for toppers and other organic-specific machinery�

It will also negatively impact on �horticultural producers who would have been applying for

grant-aid for a myriad of items such as specialised weeding equipment and polytunnels�

When queried directly about the suspension of grant aid, a DAFF representative did claim that �Depending on the outcome of discussions on the Estimates later in the year, it may be possible to reopen those Schemes in 2010.�

While this may be seen as light at the end of the tunnel, it may also be the case that these discussions produce exactly the opposite result: yet more cuts.

Thus far, the organic sector had escaped the worst of the cutbacks and restructuring in agriculture. However it is now the case that organic farming has received a double hit: the ending of REPS and of grant aid.

Most organic farmers are in REPS, and will see their incomes reduce either very soon or at some point over the next five years.

As is clear for the above, it is also now the case that operators interested in farming with any production or processing inputs will find the situation all the more challenging.

All of which will make the Noel Groome's role, as head of the newly established organic development body For�s Org�nach, all the more interesting.