Interested in Organic Farming? Then do one of these courses

A new round of Teagasc Organic Training courses have been announced.

These courses are compulsory for operators (i.e. farmers and food businesses) who want to apply to join the Organic Farming Scheme.

Accredited to FETAC level 5, they run over 25 hours, and are held one day per week for five consecutive weeks.

While technically compulsory, these Teagasc courses are also very useful for any farmer thinking of converting a holding to organic. All the basics of converting are outlined.

These include the organic standards, principles of organic production, economic viability and market opportunities, all of which will be covered to the required detail.

So participants will learn about costs, planning, returns, markets, nutrient and manure management, crop and animal husbandry, rotations, grass and forage management.

They also learn background information on organic farming and food, as well as available supports and reputable sources of information.

All of these Teagasc Organic Farming courses are tailored to suit the class, and involve guest experts and farm visits. Participants also work on their conversion plans, filling in the necessary application forms and writing a business plan � all very worthwhile tasks in themselves.

The locations and dates are as follows: 25 January Macroom; 26 January Ballinasloe; 26 January Tullamore; 27 January Clonmel; 27 January Mohill; 27 January Swinford; 28 January Ballyhaise; 28 January Tinahely.

I spoke to Teagasc organic advisors about the locations and the courses more generally.

Some of the above locations have not had Teagasc Organic Training Courses previously.

According to the advisors, they are responding to demand, and there is significant demand in these new locations. This is no bad sign for the growth in the numbers of farmers who may be farming organically in the coming years.

Already, 80 have participated in the courses that ran before Christmas, and about 500 have done the courses over the last 12 months. Of these about 50% have joined or applied to join the Organic Farming Scheme.

There are some distinct groups doing these courses. Farmers coming to the end of their REPS Three are interested. Returnees to farming are also interested.

There are a few types in this latter category. Many farmers had moved into construction during the Celtic Tiger years. They are now moving back to farming, and some of these are moving in to organic farming.

While there were some obvious transferable skills from farming to construction, there have also been returnees to farming from the financial and IT sectors. One I spoke with recently, Conor McDonagh, moved back from a business and athletics background in Australia to a completely changed Ireland in 2008.

He now is farming organically on his family land in Cavan, and is restocking an island his father once had cattle on, with organic goats and pigs. (see the current edition of the magazine Organic Matters for a full feature on this farmer)

Inevitably, some of these returnees have new ideas and skills about how and what should be produced from the home farm. This in turn has led to an increase in the number of farmers interested in value adding, rather than the more standard commodity production, according to the advisors.

In other words, more farmers are interested in retaining more of the ownership of both the product and the profits from the enterprise.

They also tell me that the organic farm walks have demystified organic farming, and helped with a process of myth-busting. The fact that the AEOS scheme and the Organic Farming Scheme can both be run simultaneously is also no doubt attractive to farmers considering their options.

(Note: At time of going to press, the next round of the Organic Farming Scheme has not formally been announced. However, as there were no budget cuts announced to either the Grant Aid or the Farming Scheme itself, stakeholders I have spoken to are hopeful that the overall Organic Farming Scheme will be available again for 2011.)

For more information, see www.teagasc.ie or contact: Pat Barry, Moorepark 087 2138331; Dan Clavin, Athenry 087 9368506; Elaine Leavy, Grange 087 9853285; James McDonnell, Oak Park 087 3293820.

Who's thinking about going organic for 2010?

The rate of conversion to organic in Ireland has fluctuated over the years. More recently, slow but steady growth has been recorded.

At present, the main block to conversion is a technical one: �quite a number of farmers are still in REPS 3, and won't finish until 2011� according to Teagasc organic farming specialist Dan Clavin. �They can't actually sign up to the organic farming scheme until their REPS 3 runs out�.

The Department tried to have this situation rectified at EU level, to no avail. Nonetheless, there are at present about 150 people signed up to the organic farming courses running at the various centers around Ireland.

More courses will run early next year due to demand. And, according to Dan Clavin: �there will be an on line course too; that might suit part timers�. He goes on: �There will still be farm visits on this course�.

Of the 150 signed up, the majority of the farmers are involved with drystock enterprises.

The greatest interest in the courses is coming from the regions where the numbers of organic farmers is already strong. So in broad terms there are more participating in the courses in the south than the northern half of the country.

According to Teagasc organic farming specialist Pat Barry; �There has been an excellent start to the courses, with a high level of interaction between the farmer participants and the advisers involved. It is proving to be extremely useful in helping individuals evaluate their own farming systems and to make an informed decision when converting to organic status. �

Pat Barry's courses run in Clonmel, Mallow and Killarney, with about 15 participants in each.

�I'm running three at present, and all are full, with 22 in each� according to Dan Clavin. �Most are farmers with sucklers. Some are looking at finishing, at cutting down on suckler numbers, or trying to sell weanlings as stores or for finishing�.

Some bad prices have been reported at marts for organic cattle, so it is understandable that at least some are considering finishing.

He goes on �There is less finishing in the west, farmers over here are more used to carrying lambs or weanlings�.

In terms of what's attracting farmers to organic, �they see good prices for organic beef and are disillusioned with conventional farming� suggests Clavin. This disillusionment comes from �both the price they are getting and the cost of farming conventionally�.

Dan Clavin's courses are currently running in Ennis, Athenry and Boyle, which covers most of Clare and Connaught.

According to Clavin �There is strong interest in the west: next up will be Claremorris due to demand in Galway and Mayo�.

The midlands are being covered by Teagasc's James McDonnell and Elaine Leavy. There are about 35 in total on these courses, which run in Portlaoise and Mullingar.

Portlaoise is one of the few courses featuring tillage farmers: while some dry stock farmers consider feed crops, there are tillage growers in Portlaoise considering the currently attractive organic oat price, and Flahavan's stated desire to source more Irish grown organic oats.

While there is a smattering of horticulture also represented on some of the courses, it seems thus far only one dairy farmer has signed up for one of these courses.

In the North West has demand so far been slow, with the course in Letterkenny canceled. However, according to Elaine Leavy, who was due to run this course, it will most likely run in the new year.

In the course of other organic farming related work, I have myself spoken to three hill farmers from south Donegal who are ready to do the course, which is encouraging.

Mary Lynch is also running a Teagasc approved course in the Nano Nagle centre in Mallow, Cork.

All in all, this level of interest does represent still more slow but steady growth. Depending upon the number of courses that run in the new year, this trickle may at least become a stream.

Training opportunities in the organic centre, rossinver

Here's an article on that eco-institution of the north west of ireland, the organic centre in Rossinver .It was established in the mid 1990s, and has put many thousands of people through their own unique take on the learning experience. A link to their site is at the botttom of the article, which focuses on their training 2008 programme.

Interested in training in an aspect of organic farming or growing? Or are you interested in learning more about how to make your life more sustainable and self-sufficient? Then have a look at the Organic Centre�s 2008 course and training programme.

While the centre is based in Leitrim, their courses are also delivered in Clare and Wicklow. The person behind the programme is Hans Wieland.

According to Hans, there is plenty for people interested in becoming a full time commercial grower: �we have a one year FETAC level five course for those interested in professional organic growing.�

This course involves 8 FETAC level five modules, five of which are horticultural: organic food crops, organic crop protection, organic soil management, principles of organic plant growth, and finally the farm environment. These are complemented by work experience, communications and business/IT skills modules.

�We�re also working with the new NATS organisation, the National Organic Training Skillsnet, formerly the Western Organic Network, and together we offer courses for commercial growers. These are for people who may be already in production, who want to diversify, upgrade their skills and son on. These include a seven day commercial horticultural course starting on Monday 18^th February, protected cropping on 26^th February, Orchards on 11^th of March, medical herb production in April and organic salad production with Jim Cronin in Clare in June�

As part of their training, Jim also runs a one year full time commercial training course in organic market gardening in county Clare.

Their programme also lists a course that can be done on individual days, or in one, five or 10 day blocks, called The Complete Organic Garden. This starts next Saturday, February 2^nd.

According to Hans, �We also offer one-to-one sessions, mentoring for growers in the centre. Sometimes people want one-to-one in polytunnels, or other commercial options�

It is also the case that many of the one day and weekend courses may be suitable for growers; trees and woodlands, advanced gardening, grafting, gourmet mushroom growing, seasonal fruit growing courses and more.

As well as these courses, there are courses on cooking - one that caught my eye was �cooking by your blood group� with Dr. Prannie Rhatigan, a public health doctor; others include cheese making, gourmet mushroom growing, bread making and the like. While some of these could lead onto commercial enterprises, the Centre retains a focus on what could be termed a self-sufficient well fed lifestyle.

Then there are the small scale renewables courses, the arts and crafts courses and more again that are difficult to categorise. Sustainability includes energy conservation, sustainable house design and construction, reed bed systems; the arts and crafts includes silk painting, willow sculpture and micro hydro power generation. The novel, quirky one that most stood out for me was, without doubt a course on The Planning Process - a Layperson�s Guide to Supporting or Objecting to Planning Developments.

A classic catch all course on offer is called How to Live the Good Life, which does exactly what it says on the tin: it offers life skills over five days in growing vegetables organically, growing and using herbs, growing fruit for the home, making yoghurt and soft cheeses, baking and cooking with wholemeal and storing and preserving, introductions to yoga and relaxation techniques, sustainable building, a seaweed walk on a local beach and a visit to a local organic farm.

According to Hans, the Good Life course is moving from being a hobby course into a slightly more business-focused, skills course. �People have started to learn how to be more efficient and conscious, so its now more a survival skills course. People have starting using this course to also make a better living on their enterprise, over the five years its been running.�

With all of this going on, I asked Hans if �Organic Centre� was a bit of a misnomer as a name: there are so many courses in what could be called the non-commercial growing area on offer. �I suppose it is. We have changed our subtitle, which used to say training and education in organic growing and farming. Now we�ve added sustainable living.�

Indeed they have.

For more phone 071 9854338 , or c hear