organic pork in Ireland: Crowes, Tipperary

Of all the sectors within organic farming in Ireland, pork is perhaps the least developed. There are a number of reasons for this.

Relatively cheap imports from Denmark are hard to compete with. I have spoken to organic specialists who have been to Danish organic pig units. They tell me that while these units may be technically organic, they are very industrialised operations.

This industrialisation of production gives the Danes, with a long tradition in pork exports, the scale to export organic to Ireland. Animals welfare standards as regards space and ability to root are pushed to the max, but within the allowable rules.

Thus, most organic rashers and sausages available in supermarkets in Ireland comes from Denmark, as close label reading will reveal.

Despite the competition from cheap imports, some innovative pioneers are just beginning to put their heads above the precipice.

One such farmer is Tipperary-based John Paul Crowe. The Crowe name is already synonymous with quality Irish rashers and suasages: �our conventional sausages have 82% meat, which is fairly high by any standards� John Paul's brother TJ Crowe tells me.

There are three brothers in the Dundrum-based business: John Paul, Ned and TJ. TJ and Ned manage the on farm processing unit, where the sausages are made, while John Paul takes care of the farm.

They farm 133 acres, 80 of which is owned, the rest rented. Organic certification came in December of last year for the mixed enterprise of Angus beef, feed crops and pigs.

I asked John Paul why he wanted to go organic: �I would have been thinking organic, I love my food, and wouldn't have been using much chemical fertilizer anyway. So I looked into it, and found that, for me, it wouldn't have been a major change. Also, we have our own processing unit.�

JP is confident that if he gets the breed feed balance right, the consumer will pay a bit more for a better product.

To begin with on his organic pig journey, JP is crossing various artisan breeds and assessing traits, including consistency, efficiency, eating quality, hybrid vigor and the overall consumer appeal.

At the moment, he is working with Glouster Old Spot, Duroc, Hampshire and Landrace. He gives me an example of how he tries to balance the various considerations. � Sunburn can be an issue. While we do have plenty of wallows and shaded areas, here, which helps, Hampshire have a black coat which prevents sunburn. However research in England is saying that the consumer is not too partial to black hair. So its a balance�.

JP intends to produce 8-10 pigs per week from 20 sows. While there is a niche, inevitably, the market is price sensitive because of the Danish competition:

�The cost of feed is an issue, at 580-600E a tonne� TJ tells me. �I'm working with a number of organic farmers to source feedstuff to keep cost down. I'm feeding organic whey, oats and veg The whey comes from St. Tola [organic goat cheese makers] and the veg from Philip Drapier. I can get the veg and whey cheaper that bought in feed, and it gives the final product a great flavour!

Along with this, John Paul is also growing his own oats and peas this year, to have his own feed.

Proud of the quality of the feed he uses, he points out that �you need efficiency, but not enhanced feeds. They need a good balanced feed and space to root in the soil. Then you don't need to inject them with iron at 3 days old, as is done in conventional�.

Interestingly enough, according to John Paul �A lot of people are looking for two pigs to rear from: �if I surplus to sell I would have a lot sold. That died off in the past few years, but people now want to keep their own pigs for meat� he tells me.

For more on the Crowe's on farm organic pig processing unit, see my feature in the upcoming edition of Organic Matters.

All I want for christmas....

Before I start my annual christmas list to santy, if you are interested in accessing the most recent organic steering committee report, it's available here

(Pic is from young greens site of a green santy on grafton street)

for the previous wish list, click here

Now for the serious stuff:

Dear Santy
Wow. What a year eh? A real 'may you live in interesting times' of a year. I'm writing this to you from a state of mild confusion. Hopefully you'll understand what I mean, and I'll get some of these organic gifts from you.

I'm confused santy, because I thought that organic and conventional were different. Apparently you can even be sent to jail for claiming to be organic if you are not. There are people employed to go around inspecting operators to make sure they actually are organic to the letter of the law. And yet, when it came time for the Arnold Schwarzenegger-like Total Recall of pork products, they also recalled organic pork too Santy.

So this coming year, for Christmas, I'd love for differentiation between organic and conventional to actually mean something. I think the consumer has actually been more confused by organic pork's sudden disappearance, as they must surely have thought all along that that organic pigs eat different food to conventional ones. What must they think now?

Along with this Santy, I'd love some organic cosmetics. Or health and beauty products as they are usually called. For herself of course � I prefer the more rugged look myself.

Both certification bodies in Ireland now have the right to certify for organic cosmetics, making themselves and the Soil Association in the UK world leaders it seems. All the Irish ones need now are products!

I'd also love for the gift of continued organic growth of organics, if you know what I mean. So hopefully once the farmers can start converting again on New Year's Day � as one of their new year's resolutions - there will be a flood of them Santy. Queues out the door of the IOFGA and Organic Trust offices longer than the Dole queues � that's what we want.

Also, if you could give Minister Sargent the gift of a ring fence around the money he's managed to keep for organic farmers, that would be absolutely great Santy. In fact, make it an electric ring fence, and give him a few high voltage cattle prods. He's going to need them. That would cover a lot. I know I'm giving away a present there, Santy, but giving is a gift in itself.

It seems there is nothing but negative talk and thinking these days Santy. Everyone seems to think that food with ethical values will be the first thing to go. They keep saying 'in the current economic climate' or in these 'recessionary times' as if that means � �stop thinking about frilly little exotic irrelevancies like the planet � we have an economy to protect�.

But Santy, organic is the food of the future - the oil won't last forever. Even Teagasc research points out that organic makes sense for both the planet and the farmer. I know cos I was at their recent conference, and organic farmers are making just as much money as their conventional counterparts. In fact, organic cattle farmers are making up to 56% more. And most still do this while doing a better job environmentally.

I'm sure someone out there was asking for a reduction in the price of feeds, fertilizers and fuels, but there are environmental costs in all of these Santy. I'm not so sure that that's all good news. Your reindeer's don't seem to need any of these to keep themselves going � a bit like those mountain sheep and cattle. I'd love to see more of them going organic Mr Claus � they might as well be. Organic would suit both their farming restrictions and their terrain. They'd get a great mark up if they converted, so they would.

And what about that EU pesticide review? I think you can guess what I want on that one. That might even things up between conventional and organic Mr. Claus. Organic might not seem so expensive then, eh?

Overall Santy, I suppose I might as well ask for a lot, as you do seem to give me want I want when I ask. In other years, I was very suprised at how generous you were. Please keep up the good work.

Yours in expectation more than hope

Ollie