This is a subscriber-only article
For centuries, the guiding principle of farming has been to maximise production from the land farmed.
In Ireland, as the famine demonstrated, failure to achieve this for whatever reason was a matter of life and death.
In the 20th century, agriculture was revolutionised by mechanisation, breeding and fertiliser.
This has enabled an ever-increasing global population have access to at least a basic level of food. Any food shortages in areas of the world were most likely caused by war or other logistical distribution problems rather than production of food.
Willingness
It is only really in the past decade that an open willingness at policy level in the EU prioritised environmental protection and emissions reductions at the expense of farm output.
The most recent OECD-FAO Outlook for the next decade highlights production efficiency in the developed world is dramatically higher than the developing world.
Yet policy in the EU, unlike North and South America, as well as the Oceania countries, wants land use dedicated to less productive agriculture or even non-agricultural use.
Organic farming
One type of land use that Irish farmers are being particularly encouraged to pursue is organic farming.
Until this year, only 2% of Irish farmland was in organic production, though this has doubled over the past year and the target is 10% by the end of the decade. Even at that level, it will still be well below the overall EU target of 25% which currently only Austria reaches.
The push to make organic farming mainstream in Ireland risks destroying the premium cultivated by the long-established organic farmers
Organic farming is not the default setting for Irish farmers who have been reared on the principle of improve the land and livestock quality year on year, decade on decade.
Organic farming was confined to a minority of dedicated enthusiasts who developed exceptional husbandry to maximise output without the assistance of fertiliser, sprays and medicines. They also tended to cultivate their own premium markets.
Incentive push rather than market pull
The push to make organic farming mainstream in Ireland risks destroying the premium cultivated by the long-established organic farmers.
Bord Bia is confident that there is an export market for organic agri-food products, but this will only be proven when the critical mass in in place to service these markets.
What is certain is that expansion of organic farming in Ireland isn’t being driven by the pull of the market, it is being developed by the push coming from Government support.
This is why switching to organic farming is attracting considerable interest from farmers, particularly in the beef and sheep sectors, where profits have been wafer-thin for several years.
There is a pot of €237m to support organic farming through to 2027 and, in 2023, the 2,000 applicants to go organic will receive an average payment of €15,500 for their first year in their five-year organic contract for the average 45ha farm in conversion.
This is a jump from the €9,900 that would have been payable in 2022 and strong further uptake is expected when the 2024 application opens later in the year.
Market premium
There remains a doubt about securing a premium market for this extra production and until the critical mass is in place and the sales are made, securing the premium market will remain a leap of faith.
Similarly, there is also the question of what happens after the five years have passed – will payments disappear? This is also a leap of faith!
On the other hand, what is the worst that can happen? Irish beef and sheep production has been a very low-margin business.
Going down the organic road is an alternative option that has a secure funding package in place for five years and the potential for a better market return, even if the volume for sale will fall. Worst-case market scenario is that organic production gets sold in mainstream markets.
Of course, many farmers contemplating the switch will have farmed through an era when they were paid at least as generously if not more so to remove hedges and drain waterlogged soils.
In time, the EU may reverse its support for organic farming, but the indications are that it will remain in favour for at least the next CAP, as well as the current one.
Switching to organic won’t be for everyone, but it is interesting that this week's Irish Farmers Journal/Red C opinion poll shows that 57% of suckler farmers and 64% of sheep farmers are openminded to making the switch to organic in the next five years.
As always, farmers are able and willing to adapt to policy change if the incentive is there.
SHARING OPTIONS: